Paths to Hell
by trishy fishy
Summary: The team track a killer who is on a mission to purge the streets of Honolulu. As they hunt him down, the killer turns his sights onto a member of the team, and the case turns into a race against time to save them.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, guys. I'm back, with a whole new story. I've been dying to post another story, but I just haven't had the time. But I had a free evening tonight, so I decided to post this for you all. Fair warning, this story will be a lot darker than anything else I've written, and will also focus on the concept of religion, specifically Christianity. If this isn't your cup of tea, don't read it. You have been warned.  
**

"David, come on!" the young woman called as she ran through the park. "Come on, we're almost there!" David ran after her, wheezing slightly, and she slowed her pace to match with his. "You're doing great; you've come a long way since we started."

The slightly overweight man smiled at her as they jogged along the trail. "Thanks, Lana," he panted. "Really, thanks."

Lana returned the smile and they ran in silence until they reached the street. "Right, that's it for this week. You've done great, though, David; you should be proud of yourself. I'll see you again next Saturday, same time, and we'll see if we can't increase the distance of our run."

"Sounds good," David agreed.

"Excellent. Remember, nothing fatty or processed, and no more than 5g of salt a day. Sodas, sweets, crisps as well: all out."

David nodded. "I know. I'll see you next week." Wiping the sweat off his brow, he set off at a slow pace down the street. Lana watched him until he was about halfway down the street, before turning and running back into the park, deviating off the trail and running through the trees. She much preferred going off the path and finding her own way back, rather than being told where she had to walk. Lana had never been particularly good with rules.

Going through the trees was always nice, as well; there was something peaceful about them that helped Lana to cool down after a training session. It was quiet because she was away from the path, so she could just be with her thoughts.

Lana gasped as she tripped and fell to the ground, putting her hands out instinctively. She hissed as she felt the sting of cuts on her palms from twigs on the ground. Carefully pushing herself to her knees, Lana inspected the damage.

"Dammit," she groaned at the long, thin slash across her left palm. Thin cuts always hurt like a bitch, since the nerve endings were left exposed, and this one would be a pain to deal with while it healed.

Lana twisted around to see what it was she'd tripped over. It could have been a branch, which, if it was, she was lucky not to have twisted her ankle on, as well.

These thoughts quickly left her mind, replaced by intense fear, as Lana saw what she had tripped over. Her screams echoed through the park as she scurried away from the burnt, blistered body, the only one present to hear her.

**Short, creepy opening, I know. The other chapters will be longer, I promise. When that will be, however, I don't know. Since I'm now in Sixth Form, I get a lot more prep to do. Those who have done their A-Levels in a Sixth Form will know the general amount of work I'm getting on a daily basis. I'm only taking four subjects, but I have two teachers for each, who both set their own prep, so lots of homework. Lucky me. So, my writing time has been severely reduced. Just be patient with me, though; I will update whenever's possible, I promise. But for now, good night! xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the mistake before; I finished this chapter at half eleven last night, and I was too tired to think about reading through it and making sure there were no mistakes. I've rectified it now, so it makes sense now. Sorry for any confusion :S**

The park was buzzing with activity by the time Steve arrived. HPD officers had blocked off the entire park, keeping curious pedestrians away, while CSU techs scoured the park for evidence. He spotted Chin talking to Duke, and headed towards them.

"Chin, Duke, what do we have?" he asked as he approached them.

"A young woman found a body in the park about an hour ago and called it in. Danny's talking to her now and getting her statement," Chin filled the former SEAL in, gesturing over to where Danny was speaking with a young Hawaiian woman, still shaking slightly from the shock of finding the body.

"Do we have an ID yet?" Steve asked as Chin led him into the park, towards the body.

"Not yet. There's no ID on the body, and fingerprints are probably out," Chin replied.

"Why? How bad is it?"

Chin hesitated for a moment before answering, "It looks like the victim was burnt to death, Steve."

Steve sucked in a breath, wondering who could have done such a thing. Danny approached them at that moment, so thankfully he didn't have to dwell on that thought for long.

"Okay, so I spoke to our witness," he started. "Lana Kailua. She's a personal trainer; said she was with one of her clients this morning on their weekly run, and found the body when she was heading back to the gym. She didn't see anyone nearby, though."

Steve nodded. "Okay. I'm assuming we don't have an ID yet?"

"Not yet," Chin confirmed. "There's no ID on the body, and we probably won't get any fingerprints. DNA might get a hit, though."

"Get Max to send a sample up to Charlie Fong when he gets the vic back to the morgue," Steve ordered as they walked through the wooded area towards the body.

Kono intercepted them as they approached. "Hey, guys. So HPD and CSU have canvassed the area, but so far they've found nothing. There's no trace from our killer."

"It rained last night; if there was any evidence from the killer, it's probably long gone by now," Danny pointed out, and Steve nodded.

"Maybe, but there's a chance that there may be some evidence left," he countered. "Kono, tell them to continue sweeping the park for another fifty yards. If they don't find any evidence within that radius, call them off."

"Sure, boss." Kono turned and headed back to the CSU team searching the surrounding area for evidence.

Max was stood next to the body, making some preliminary notes on the victim, as they approached him. "Max, you got anything so far?"

"I'm afraid not, gentlemen," the short pathologist answered. "All I can say for certain is that, based on the blistering of the epidermis, an accelerant was used. If I am able to take a sample, I will send it up to the lab."

"Can I see the body, Max?" Steve asked, and the doctor unzipped the body bag, revealing the corpse inside.

Despite everything he had seen during his years as an active SEAL, Steve always struggled with deaths like this, simply because it was such a horrible way to die. Forcing down the feeling of slight nausea, Steve inspected the blackened and blistered skin.

"Have you ever seen anything like this, Steve?" Chin asked, but Steve shook his head.

"The only thing I can liken this sort of damage to is napalm, but I doubt our killer has managed to get his hands on that," he murmured. "Max, get the body back to the morgue, and call us when you have something."

"I will, of course, Commander McGarrett," Max nodded. He and another CSU technician lifted the body bag onto a gurney and wheeled it away from the scene.

"We should get to HQ as well," Danny said, and they walked back out of the park, towards their vehicles.

* * *

"Commander, you received my message," Max stated as the partners entered the morgue an hour later.

"Yes. What have you got?" Steve asked.

"An ID for our victim. Obviously, facial identification and fingerprints are out of the question, but I found a match with dental records," Max explained. "Our victim's name is Richard Harrington."

"Brilliant; a name to go with the… well, what remains of the face," Danny trailed off, wincing at his poor choice of words. "Did you find anything else?"

"Yes, I found something rather strange." Max moved towards Harrington's head, and gestured to the side of his neck. "I found some markings that are inconsistent with the victim's injuries from the burns. They appeared to have been made with a blade of some kind. Take a look."

Steve took the magnifying glass that Max offered to them and inspected the area that the pathologist had indicated. It was rather difficult to see in the burnt, blackened skin, but Steve was able to see some lacerations in the skin, and passed the magnifying glass to Danny.

"Do you think this could have contributed to the cause of death, Max?" Danny asked.

"It's difficult to say. The cuts are shallow, but they're close to the carotid artery. It's possible that the killer nicked the carotid and that Mr Harrington died from blood loss, but I'm not sure" Max surmised. "I've sent photos of the markings to Charlie. He might be able to manipulate the photos to determine what the markings are."

"Okay, thanks Max," Steve nodded. "Let's go see Charlie."

* * *

"Hey, Charlie, you got anything for us?" Steve asked as he and Danny strode into the lab.

"Not much, I'm afraid," Charlie said apologetically. "I couldn't get a DNA match from the skin sample that Max sent up; the DNA was too degraded and damaged from the burns."

"Yeah, he told us," Danny interjected. "He got a hit with dental records, though. Chin and Kono are looking up our vic now."

Charlie nodded. "Yeah. But, even though I didn't a hit in DNA, I still found something else. There was a minute amount of trace on the skin. Isopropyl alcohol. It's used in loads of different cleaners worldwide, and it's highly flammable."

"Max said that an accelerant had to have been used," Steve recalled. "You can get isopropyl alcohol practically anywhere; it's not that difficult to get your hands on."

"That's a dead-end lead, then," Danny sighed. "What about the photos of the markings that Max sent up? Do you know what they are?"

Fong shook his head, lips pressed into a thin line. "No, sorry. I tried everything I could think of to enhance the photos, but I couldn't make out what they were. This is the best I could do." Charlie brought up the enhanced photos on the screen for Steve and Danny to look at. The markings were more defined than in the morgue, but it still wasn't possible to say for certain what the markings were: whether they were the cause of death, or something entirely different.

"I can't even tell what that's supposed to be," Danny muttered, and looked at Steve. "You got any idea?" Steve shook his head and straightened up again.

"No, I don't know," he sighed as well. "We should get back to HQ; Chin and Kono might have something."

* * *

Chin and Kono were standing at the computer table when Danny and Steve returned to the office. "Hey, what did you get from Max and Charlie?"

"Charlie found traces of isopropyl alcohol on Harrington's skin; he thinks the killer used that as an accelerant," Danny said. "It's a dead-end lead, though; you can that anywhere. It's used in cleaning fluids everywhere. There were some markings on the side of Harrington's neck, as well, but neither Max nor Charlie could figure out what they were. Just that they were inconsistent with his burns."

"It could be something to do with his signature," Kono suggested. "I can set up a search through HPD's cold cases and see if there are any unsolved cases that are similar."

"It's worth a shot," Steve agreed. "What did you guys find on Richard Harrington?"

"Richard Harrington, 40 years old. Lives on Piikoi Street with his wife, Sally. She reported him missing last week," Chin filled them in. "He worked at the First Hawaiian Bank on South Beretania Street."

"Okay, Chin, Kono, you two head over to the bank and talk to his colleagues," Steve instructed. "Danny and I'll go talk to the wife."

* * *

Steve stopped the Camaro in front of the Harringtons' home, and he and Danny headed up the driveway towards the two storey, middle class house. He heard Danny make a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and looked at him.

"See, this is why I don't like bankers," he grumbled. "It's next to impossible to get money from a bank, and if you do, they charge you extortionate amounts to pay it back. Plus, bank managers give themselves bonuses that they don't deserve. We put our lives on the line every single day, while they just do sod all every day."

Steve hummed in agreement. Danny was very touchy when it came to finances; everyone knew that Rachel had taken everything in the divorce and he'd struggled to find a good place to live in in Hawaii. "I know, Danny, but that's the way it is. I don't like it any more than you do, but we just have to suck it up and deal with it."

Danny scrunched up his nose at that. "It's stupid," he muttered.

They had reached the front door by now. "I know," Steve repeated, rapping on the door three times. Almost immediately, the door was opened and a well-dressed woman in her late thirties stood there.

"Yes?"

"Mrs Harrington, I'm Commander Steve McGarrett; this is Detective Danny Williams. We're from Five-0," Steve introduced them.

"Are you here about my husband?" she asked hopefully. "Has he been found?"

"May we come in?" Danny asked gently.

Mrs Harrington frowned and didn't move from the doorway. "Why? Please, just tell me: did you find Rich or not?"

Danny sighed quietly. "Mrs Harrington, your husband was found dead this morning in Laukahi Park."

Mrs Harrington's face fell and she raised a shaking hand to her mouth, slowly shaking her head back and forth. "No... No, please tell me it's not true..."

"I'm so sorry," Steve said sincerely. "Could we come in?"

The shocked woman nodded numbly, and turned and walked into the living room, Steve and Danny following behind her. She collapsed into one of the armchairs with a quiet noise, while the partners perched on the sofa opposite her.

"When did you report your husband missing?" Danny asked.

"Uh... L-Last Friday," she stuttered, an almost detached look on her face. "Rich always went out every Thursday after work with some of his colleagues for a drink, and he'd come home at around half ten, eleven o'clock at night, and when he didn't come home, I started to worry. I didn't report him missing until the next morning, because I know the rule is that it has to be at least 24 hours before you can report someone as missing."

Steve nodded as he listened. "Did Richard ever say he was having issues with someone? Perhaps at work or elsewhere?"

Mrs Harrington shook her head. "No, he never mentioned anything like that happening," she replied. She looked up at them with tearful eyes. "ho could have done this?"

Danny leant forwards and gently squeezed Sally Harrington's hand. "We don't know yet, but we will find out, I promise."

**Is that better? Does that make more sense now? I'm useless after nine in the evening; my brain just switches off after that. Thanks to everyone who pointed that out in the reviews; I probably wouldn't have noticed it. As for including Jodie, nobody seemed to object to that. I'm not going to make her the centre of this story, since she was in RL and I was introducing her to you all. I thought it'd be cool to include Jodie, since she's one of my OCs, and you can make your own characters as you like.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi, everyone. Remember this story? It's been a little while since I've updated. Life just keeps getting the way. I've had loads of school work to do, and I haven't been particularly well this past month. It just seems like my immune system has decided to go on strike, because I don't know anyone else who can get cellulitis twice in less than a month, and conjunctivitis three times in as many weeks. I've got both right now, so I'm on antibiotics four times a day, as well as eye drops, and my doctor has ordered a blood test for me, because she thinks there's a possibility I may have diabetes, but I don't think so. More than likely I just have a retarded immune system. So yeah; I'm not a very happy bunny right now.  
Thanks for all the reviews and favourites I've been getting for this story, and sorry for any confusion with the last chapter; I finished writing it at about quarter past eleven, so reading it through wasn't exactly on my mind. But I hope this chapter's okay, and that you enjoy.**

Chin and Kono entered the bank and walked towards one of the workers, tapping away on her keyboard. As they approached, she looked up and smiled at them.

"Good morning. How can I help you?" she asked with a British accent. Her name tag read 'Tamzin'.

Kono removed her badge from her belt and showed it to the young woman. "Yes, we need to speak to you about Richard Harrington."

The friendly smile disappeared from Tamzin's face and was replaced with a scowl. "Oh… What do you want to know about him?"

Chin and Kono frowned at the sudden change in the woman's demeanour. "Richard Harrington was found dead this morning."

"About time, too," she muttered.

"I take it you weren't fond of him, then?" Kono inquired, and Tamzin laughed outright.

"That's a bloody understatement, love," she scoffed, rising from her seat. "If you really want to know, I despised him. I hated his guts. I even thought about bringing my sewing kit into work with me, just so I could stab him in the eyes."

Chin raised an eyebrow. "Does anyone feel the same way?"

Tamzin laughed again. "Everyone feels that way. Everyone hates Richard, and he hates us."

"Why do you hate him so much?"

"Because he's a stingy, selfish bastard, he's a pervert, he makes life a living hell here; you take your pick," Tamzin shrugged.

"He sounds like a joy to work for," Kono remarked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm living the dream, working here," Tamzin said sarcastically. "My boss stares at my ass all day and cuts our budgets with every excuse he can think of. I had 30 per cent of my pay check cut just last month! That's $10,000 a year I'll be worse off now!"

"Why did you never report him to the higher-ups that he was doing all of that?" Kono asked.

"'Cos it would be his word against mine. They'd believe him over me," Tamzin explained. "Besides, it wasn't just the harassment that pissed me off. It was the way he'd flaunt his money in front of us."

"How do you mean?"

Tamzin started to walk towards the back of the bank, and gestured for Chin and Kono to follow here. She led them to the car park and pointed to an Aston Martin DB9 parked right next to the back entrance.

"That is the result of Richard cutting our wages: so there'd be more money for his budget to buy crap he doesn't need. Every day, he shows up in that, toots his horn to announce his arrival so we can lay a red carpet down for him. It was still here when I got to work on Friday, and I thought that the asshole had gone to a whole new level of egoism."

Kono stayed standing next to Tamzin, while Chin moved towards the car to inspect it. "When did you realise that your boss was missing?"

"Monday morning, when the car was still here, and he didn't arrive in some other monstrosity."

"And you didn't think to call the police and report him missing?"

Tamzin laughed at her words. "Are you kidding? Why would we want to spoil the best time of our lives? Richard made our lives horrible; we've been happy this past week, because he hasn't been here."

Kono narrowed her eyes at the young woman. "You know, we're currently looking for suspects."

Tamzin sighed and rolled her eyes. "I may have hated him, but I didn't kill him. I'm sorry for his wife, but not for that bastard. He had it coming."

"Hey Kono, I've got something here," Chin called from next to the car. He was down on all fours, peering under the car, and as Kono came over, he rose back and held up a cloth. The sweet smell hit them both straight away.

"Chloroform," Kono stated, recognising the scent. "The killer must have grabbed him here."

Chin nodded his agreement. "What time did your boss usually leave in the evenings?"

Tamzin shrugged. "I don't know, but he was always the last to leave. I reckon so it was so he could check the money in the safe and pinch a little."

Chin shook his head; her hatred towards Harrington was a little over the top. Behind her, Chin spotted a camera overlooking the car park. "Can you get us the security camera recordings from last week?"

Tamzin looked towards the camera and nodded. "I'll see what I can do," she said, and headed back inside the bank.

"That's a lot of anger towards one person," Chin remarked, raising his eyebrows.

"Mmm," Kono hummed her agreement. "Just means we've got a larger suspect pool. If that's how one person feels, who's to say the rest of the employees don't feel the same?" She pushed herself to her feet. "I'll see if Charlie can get any DNA from this."

"We'll head back to HQ after, and see what Steve and Danny found out from the wife."

* * *

"Harrington's wife reported him missing last Friday morning," Danny reported as Chin and Kono walked back into the office. "According to her, he would go every Thursday for drinks with colleagues, and when he didn't come home, she got worried, and called the police in the morning."

"Well, I don't know what colleagues he was going out with, since everyone at the bank seemed to hate him," Kono replied, garnering raised eyebrows from both Steve and Danny. "We spoke to one of his employees, and she described him as a stingy bastard and a pervert."

"Wow, okay," Steve uttered, almost astonished by the description. "Other than a collective hatred from the employees, did you get anything else?"

Chin held up a memory stick. "Security recordings from cameras outside the bank."

"Great; let's plug it in." Chin inserted the USB stick into one of the ports on the computer table and brought up the recordings. "Go from last Thursday."

The tape started playing, and Chin set it to fast forward. The footage from the afternoon played quickly, people passing by or leaving the bank. Eventually, every car except Harrington's had left the car park, and the man in question exited the back entrance.

"Play it there," Steve ordered, and Chin slowed the tape. Harrington walked slowly across the car park towards his Bentley, gazing down at whatever he was holding in his hands. His attention was solely focused on that, so he never noticed the hooded figure creeping up behind him. The team watched as the killer grabbed Harrington from behind and quickly subdued him with the chloroform-soaked cloth.

"We found the cloth underneath Harrington's car at the bank; the killer must've dropped it there," Chin surmised. "Charlie's looking to see if he can get any DNA off of it. He's going to call us when he's finished."

* * *

Almost half an hour passed before Charlie called. HPD had released a short statement, asking for anyone who had seen or knew anything about Harrington's kidnapping. So far, though, they had only received a couple of calls, but they were only from people wanting their fifteen minutes of fame. Since then, they'd had no leads to follow and had been waiting for Fong to call them.

Kono leant back in her chair, pressing the heels of her palms over her eyes and suppressing a groan of frustration. It was still very early on in the investigation, but this was one of the most disturbing murders they'd had in quite a while, and they had no idea if this was the only murder, or if they would find another victim tomorrow morning.

Her phone vibrating on her desk jerked her out of her thoughts. She snatched it up and left her office, waving the guys over. As they came out, Kono pressed the 'Accept' button and placed the phone on the table.

"Charlie, what do you have for us?"

"_I tried to get some DNA from the cloth, but I only found Harrington's on it. Sorry, guys," _Charlie answered apologetically. _"The killer must have worn gloves."_

"Don't worry about it, Charlie," Steve said, shaking his head. "Thanks, anyway." As Kono hung up, a disappointed silence fell over the team.

"We don't have any more leads to follow, do we?" Kono asked, and the others shook their heads.

"Not yet, no," Danny confirmed. "And until we do, we can't do anything else with this case."

Steve sighed heavily and nodded. "Okay. Let's leave it for now and come back to it tomorrow." Everyone agreed and they left the office for the day, but with the brutality of the killing still weighing on their minds.

**How was that? Good? Bad? Let me know what you all thought in the lovely reviews you always leave for me, while I get to go take more pills and eye drops. Yippee... **


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter for you all. Sorry for the delay with this, but you know; school and real life get in the way of writing. Thanks for the reviews you've all been leaving, and all the well-wishes. I've finished my antibiotics, and both infections have cleared up, and I had my blood test yesterday. I should get the results next week, so thankfully, not a long wait. Speaking of next week, I can't wait for Monday! It's my birthday! What makes it even better is that I get the day off; it was Open Evening last night at school, and we get the Monday off as a thank you from the staff. So Monday's gonna be great :D  
I hope you like this chapter. It is shorter than the last one, I know, and sorry about that. The next chapter will probably be shorter as well, simply because I decided to split it into two chapters. But enough from me; I hope you enjoy.**

The next morning, when Steve entered the office, he found Danny on his phone to someone. As he came closer, Steve was able to hear what Danny was saying.

"… Know it hurts, baby, but don't rub it; that'll only make it worse," Danny was saying quietly. "I know the eye drops sting, but they'll hurt less as your eye gets better… Of course I will, Monkey. Tell you what? I'll even bring round ice cream." Steve cleared his throat quietly behind Danny, and the detective twisted around, offering a quick wave in greeting. "I've got to go, Grace, but I'll talk to you later, all right…? Danno loves you, too. Bye-bye."

"Is Grace okay?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, she's okay. She's just caught conjunctivitis, and her eye's really sore," Danny explained, hating that his daughter was hurting and he couldn't help her.

Steve winced in sympathy. He'd had conjunctivitis before, and it was painful. "Poor Grace. I hope she gets better soon."

Danny nodded. "I hope so, too." Steve's phone rang, interrupting their conversation. "Please don't let that be another case; we still haven't gotten anywhere with the Harrington murder."

Steve simply listened to what was being said, and as he did, his jaw tightened and his eyes darkened. "We'll be there soon." He hung up and looked at Danny, who could already tell what had happened. "We've got another body," he said grimly. "It's similar to the first murder."

"Burning? Fuck, what are we dealing with here? A sadistic arsonist?"

"I don't know; maybe," Steve answered as they moved towards the doors. "Call Chin and Kono from the car; let them know what's going on."

* * *

Sandy Beach was normally a favourite of the locals and tourists alike; the golden sand and the warn water beckoned many enthusiastic surfers. The beach had earned a reputation for frequent rip-tides and rough currents, but that made it all the more fun for the more daring surfers.

Right now, though, the beach was anything but fun. HPD officers and crime scene techs were moving about the beach, searching for any evidence, while Max was crouched next to the body. This time, it was a woman, but it was difficult to tell, with the combination of the burns and the start of decomposition.

The sight of it was enough to turn anyone's stomachs; as Steve and Danny walked down onto the beach, a rookie officer ran past them and proceeded to throw up on the sand.

Danny shook his head as they passed the vomiting officer. "Normally, I'd feel a little sympathetic for the rookies, but if they want to make it as a cop, they have to get a grip. Especially if we're dealing with a serial killer here."

"I agree," Steve concurred. "Max, talk to us."

"I don't have very much as of yet, Commander. Obviously, the victim suffered burns over the majority of her body, and appear to be a mixture of first, second and third degree burns," the medical examiner explained.

"I know I'm wrong here, but how are you sure that this is the same killer?" Danny asked. "These murders are disturbingly similar, but they're not exactly the same."

"I found this." Max carefully turned the woman's head to reveal her neck, where a '1' had been carved into her skin.

"Shit," Steve murmured, running a hand down his face.

"1. What significance does '1' have?"

"I don't know, but we're going find out," Steve said, a steely, determined glint in his eyes. "Max, do you have a time of death?"

"Decomposition begins around a week after a body has been in water, and based on the rate of decomposition here, I would estimate that she has been in the water for at least 10 days," Max explained. "As for TOD, I would estimate it to be less than 24 hours before she was placed in the water."

"All right; keep us informed, Max," Danny requested, and the short man nodded.

* * *

"Max managed to get a fingerprint from the victim by re-inflating the skin on her fingers. We got a hit," Kono started as Danny and Steve entered the office. "Our victim's name is Laura Henderson. She was reported missing two weeks ago by her sister, Charlotte."

"The killer took her first, then Richard Harrington," Danny realised. "1. Victim number 1."

"This psycho's going down a list," Chin murmured with sickening realisation. "He's marking which number each victim is."

"Right, okay, we need to find this guy," Steve said. "Where was Laura Henderson last seen?"

"Her car was parked outside her house, so HPD assumed she was taken from there," Kono replied.

"So either she somehow knew the killer, or he got the drop on her," Danny surmised. "He managed to jump Harrington as well before he even realised what was going on."

"He stalked them," Steve interjected. "The killer stalked them, learnt their routines and figured out when would be the best time to grab them. After he killed Laura Henderson, he had two weeks to learn Richard Harrington's routine."

"We need to find a link between Harrington and Henderson," Chin stated, and everyone silently agreed with him.

"Right, okay; Danny, Kono, you guys see if you can find a link between the victims. Anything, alright? Bank, doctor, club, even where they shopped; anything that might tie Richard Harrington to Laura Henderson," Steve ordered. "Chin, let's go talk to the sister."

**Do you know what? I don't think I've ever been quite so angry with TV writers before in my entire life. If you were watching Casualty tonight, you'll know what I'm talking about. I just yelled at the television "You bastards!" Seriously, it's not fair! Why'd they have to do that?**

**Right, that's enough of me whining. The next chapter is already in the works, and I will get it up when I can; probably some time next week, depending on how much time real life gives me. But for now, read, review, follow or favourite, please x**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, so discount everything I said in the last chapter about this chapter taking a week to do. I knew it was going to be short, but I didn't realise it would be quite so short, although I did split up this chapter and the last one into two. But yay, it's done, and I can relax for the rest of my birthday. I've had a lovely day so far; got some Bon Jovi CDs, a proper makeup kit from my neighbours and some lovely earrings from my parents and my brother. I've also found out the date that Season 5 starts in the UK. 19th October. Only two weeks to go before all the good TV comes back for winter!  
****Thanks for the reviews I've already gotten for the last chapter; you guys are great, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.**

Chin and Steve approached Charlotte Henderson's house and rapped on the door. After a couple of moments, the door was opened and a young woman in her late twenties peered around the door.

"Hello?"

"Miss Henderson, I'm Detective Kelly; this is my colleague, Commander McGarrett. We're with Five-0," Chin introduced them both. "We're here about your sister, Laura."

"Have you found her?" Charlotte asked, hopefulness appearing on her face. "Is she alive? Is she okay?"

"May we come in?" Steve asked.

Charlotte's face fell, and Steve and Chin could see tears gathering in her eyes. "Laura's dead, isn't she? You've found her body."

"We have; I'm sorry," Steve confirmed.

"I suppose you'd better come in, then." Charlotte turned and headed back inside, Steve and Chin following her into the kitchen. "Um… W-Would you like a cup of tea, or…?"

"No, thank you, Miss Henderson," Chin politely declined. She nodded, but moved around the kitchen, starting a cup of tea anyway. "You reported your sister missing two weeks ago?"

"Yes, um, Laura and I were supposed to go for counselling. When she didn't show, I went round to her house. I thought she was still home and had maybe slept through her alarm or something like that, because her car was still in the driveway, but I found her hand bag in the bushes by the wall. That's when I called the police."

"If you don't mind my asking, why were you and Laura having counselling?" Steve asked.

Charlotte looked down and started to curl her fingers into a fist, but then stopped as if she realised what she was doing. "Laura… slept with my husband," she muttered.

Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Your sister slept with your husband?"

"Yeah. Last year. The affair went on for six months, before Adam told me what had been going on," she explained. "At first, I was furious and I kicked Adam out and I… I lashed out at Laura. Laura kept apologising, though; kept saying she didn't mean to hurt me. After a while, I saw that she really was sorry. And she was still my sister, so I decided to give her a chance. We've been going to counselling for two months now, and our relationship is finally starting to improve."

"And what about your husband?" Chin inquired.

"I'm divorcing Adam," Charlotte sighed. "I can't… I can't stay with him, knowing he was sleeping with my sister."

"Miss Henderson, do you know if Laura knew Richard Harrington in any way?" Chin asked.

"Um, I-I don't know," she said. "We've only just started to be able to have civil conversations with each other. Did he do this? Did he kill my sister?"

"Laura was killed in a similar manner to a case we received yesterday," Steve explained. "We're trying to find something to link your sister with our previous victim."

"Well, like I said, I don't know if she knew the guy or not," Charlotte repeated. "I'm sorry I can't help you more."

"You've been a massive help, Miss Henderson," Steve reassured her. "And I promise we're going to find whoever did this to Laura." Charlotte nodded and escorted them back to the door.

"Detectives, can I just ask...? How did Laura die?" she asked. "I mean, was it painless?"

Steve and Chin exchanged a look with each other, before Chin answered, "Miss Henderson, I'm sorry, but we can't discuss the case at this point in time."

Charlotte nodded. "Okay, I understand. Please... Please stop whoever's doing this."

"We will," he promised.

* * *

"Danny, Kono, is there anything to link Laura Henderson to Richard Harrington?" Steve asked as he and Chin returned to the office.

"No, there is absolutely nothing to tie them to each other," Kono replied, shaking her head. "They lived and worked on opposite sides of the city; they used different banks. There's no link between them."

"It seems like our killer is just picking victims on the street at random," Danny added, even though he doubted his own words.

Steve didn't think so, either, shaking his head. "No, there is something to link Laura Henderson and Richard Harrington. It's just a matter of finding it. Has Charlie called?"

"Yeah, he did," Danny answered, sounding a little confused, which caused Steve to frown.

"What? What did he say?"

"Charlie tested a sample of Laura's skin to see if the killer used isopropyl alcohol again, but he didn't find any traces of it."

"What did he find?" Chin asked, not sure if this was good or bad.

"Sulphur."

"Sulphur?" Steve and Chin both repeated. "Why sulphur?"

"Maybe the killer's experimenting?" Kono suggested. "Maybe he's trying out different methods until he finds one he likes."

Steve's frown deepened. "Possibly. I still don't think he's picking victims at random, though; there has to be a link. We just need to find it."

Danny, Chin and Kono exchanged a look together, silently communicating with each other. "Steve, I… I don't want to say it, but you know what we need to find the link."

Sighing heavily, Steve deflated and ran a hand down his face. "I know. More victims."

**Another shortie, I know, but just bear with me. The next chapter will be longer, I promise**


	6. Chapter 6

**Oh my God, I know it's been ages since I updated, and I am so sorry about the delay. This little thing known as real life got in the way; I've been so busy with school, setting up a homework routine that helps me keep on top of the mountain of prep I get every week. It's taken me six weeks to establish a routine to help me survive the next two years. I really hope it works...  
****On a happier note, though, Season 5 started on Sunday night! That was a great first episode; I loved it when Chin drove past the obvious IA surveillance and said "I'm heading up to a crime scene on Diamond Head. Just in case you lose me", and he's got a real nice car as well now! Mach 1 Mustang! It's a classic! And everyone else was right about Danny being a BAMF. Loved it!  
Anyway, enough jibber-jabber from me; here is the longer chapter I promised, and I hope you enjoy.**

The team decided to take a break, and return to the case later. Chin and Kono had offered to do a coffee run, leaving Steve and Danny in the office. As Steve was making his way through the mountain of paperwork sitting on his desk, he glanced up through the glass walls towards Danny's office and saw his partner staring hard at his computer, a deep frown on his face.

Frowning at the blond's pensive state, Steve got up and headed across the bullpen towards Danny's office. Danny didn't even notice Steve until he pushed the door open, startling slightly but relaxing once he realised it was only the SEAL.

"What's got you thinking so hard, Danno?" Steve asked, leaning against the desk.

Danny shook his head as he leaned back in his chair. "I'm just looking through HPD's files to see if there's anything similar to these murders," he explained. "The way the victims were killed and the killer disposed of them says that the perp has done this before. Either that, or they've thought this through very, very carefully."

Steve nodded in agreement. "I agree, but I don't know if you'll find anything in HPD's files," he countered, playing devil's advocate. "This is a very unusual case. I doubt anyone's seen this sort of thing before."

"I know, I know," Danny said, rubbing his brow. "But if we've got a killer who's into sadism as well as arson, that's a very dangerous combination."

"And that's why we've got to find this guy fast." Steve finished speaking as the doors opened and Chin and Kono returned with coffee and malasadas. Steve and Danny followed them into the break room as they set the food down on the table.

"You guys didn't, by any chance, manage to solve the case while we were gone, did you?" Kono asked hopefully around a malasada.

"Sorry," Danny shook his head. "We've got nothing. I looked in HPD's cold case files to see if there was anything similar there, but they've got nothing as well." He grinned slightly at Kono's groan.

They fell into silence for several minutes, the need for food and caffeine beating the need to talk. After his third malasada, Chin eventually broke the silence.

"So, what's our next move?" Nobody had an answer. In reality, there wasn't anything else they could do at this point; they had nothing to go on. No DNA, no fingerprints, no connection. The only thing they could do was wait until the killer claimed another victim.

* * *

The case went cold again for another week, leaving the team on tenterhooks, waiting for the next call. Danny and Kono had done a lunch run, and when they returned to the office, they were greeted by Steve and Chin, both looking very grim.

Danny knew immediately what had happened. "Another victim?" he asked warily, and Steve nodded.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "We've got another victim."

The entire apartment building was swarming with various people by the time the team arrived. HPD officers were going to every door on every floor, speaking to the other residents, while reporters were clamouring outside the building at the news that the killer had claimed a third victim.

Climbing the stairs to the top floor, they spotted Duke coming out of the victim's apartment. He acknowledged the team with a nod,

"Duke, what do we know?" Steve asked.

"Victim is inside. His girlfriend found him when she came back from a shopping trip," he replied, gesturing for them to follow him back into the flat. "There's something you should know first."

"What?" Steve asked warily.

"The killer changed his MO."

That stopped the team in their tracks, surprise covering their faces. "Really?"

"The victim wasn't burned?" Danny braved the question.

Duke shook his head. "No. His signature is still the same; the vic had a '3' carved into his skin."

"Why the sudden change in MO?" Kono wondered aloud.

"Who knows?" Duke asked, stopping by the living room door. "This guy's a psycho; who knows what goes on in his mind?"

Steve hummed his agreement, and turned to the rest of the team. "Danny, Chin, speak to the officers out here – see what they've found out from other residents so far – and get rid of the press."

The detectives nodded and headed back out of the flat. "You're talking to the press; I'm not doing those stairs again with my knee…" Danny's voice faded away as they left.

"Kono, you're with me." They followed Duke into the living room, where they found Max stood next to the victim, cutting cable ties from around his wrists. A '3' had been carved into his neck, the slashes standing out against his pale skin. "Max, give us something good."

"Well, I haven't been able to examine the victim properly yet, but based on the petechial haemorrhaging in his eyes and the bluish tint of his skin, I believe that he died of asphyxiation," Max explained.

"That's quite a deviation from burning," Kono observed.

Steve narrowed his eyes as he looked at the victim for himself. The man was heavily overweight; obese, even. He had deep lacerations from the cable ties, and his mouth and eyes were wide with silent terror. "There aren't any ligature marks or bruising around his neck, though," he pointed out. "Nothing else that you would expect to see with an asphyxiation victim."

"Strangulation, Commander McGarrett, is not the only way to asphyxiate a person," Max replied, inspecting the victim's mouth closely and frowning. "Throat blockages, for example." He reached for a pair of tweezers and carefully pushed them down the man's throat. As he drew them back, no-one expected to see what he removed.

"W-Well," Steve stuttered. "That's, uh… That's a first for me."

"Are those… Are those frogs' legs?" Kono asked, not quite trusting her eyes.

"They are indeed, Officer Kalakaua," Max answered. "And this, Commander, is also a first for me."

"Yeah." Leaving Max to carry on prepping the vic for transport, Steve, Kono and Duke headed back outside. "Do we have an ID yet on the vic?"

"His name is Stefan Bowen. His girlfriend found him when she came back from shopping two hours ago," Duke reported. "She's outside."

"Okay, so a man is killed in the middle of the day in his apartment, and nobody hears a thing?" Steve questioned. "No screaming or shouting, or struggles?"

"Apparently not," Lukela replied. "But in this part of the city, people tend not to notice that sort of thing; they keep to themselves."

Shaking his head, Steve sought out Danny speaking to a couple of uniformed officers. "Did you get anything from HPD?"

"Not much. No-one heard anything – big surprise there – but they were all more than happy to say what they thought of Stefan Bowen," Danny answered.

"And that was?"

"That he was a complete waste of space and a pathetic excuse for a human being."

Steve raised his eyebrows at that assessment. "Guess he wasn't much of a saint, then," he surmised.

"Doesn't look like it. What did you get from Max?"

"The killer suffocated Bowen by stuffing frogs' legs down his throat."

Danny's eyebrows flew up to his hairline. "F-Frogs'… Frogs' legs?" he repeated. "Are you serious? This psycho stuffed frogs' legs down his throat?"

"I'm not kidding. Wish I were, but I'm not."

"That's… That's not right," Danny managed to say.

"I know it's not," Steve agreed. "Let's get back to the office; we're not going to get anything else from here."

* * *

"What links Human Jabba to a banker and a woman who slept with her brother-in-law?" Danny wondered aloud as they returned to HQ.

"Well, that's what we've got to find out," Steve replied. "We need to try and find some kind of connection, so check everything you can think of: banks, work, shops, club memberships, whatever."

"Wait, Steve, we couldn't find anything between Laura Henderson and Richard Harrington, so we might not find anything to associate them with Stefan Bowen, either," Chin pointed out.

"What about if they met online?" Kono interjected.

"You mean like a chat room?" Danny asked.

"Exactly."

"That's possible," Steve agreed. "Chin, can you cross-reference their search histories with each other? See if they visited any of the same sites."

"I can, but it's going to take some time," he replied.

"Well, based on the killer's pattern, we've got nothing but time for now," Danny pointed out.

"True," Chin nodded, and set about hacking the browsing histories. A minute later, he nodded in satisfaction. "There, that's running now. It'll tell us if there's a correlating site in their histories."

"Okay, good," Steve nodded.

"Am I the only one who still thinks it's a long shot that we'll find a link between the victims this way?" Danny asked. "Harrington was upper-class, but Henderson and Bowen were both working-class. Bowen even lived off benefits."

"I know it seems like a long shot, but it's the best we can do right now," Steve countered.

"I know," Danny conceded. "I just feel like we should be doing more to get this whackjob off the streets."

"What about motive?" Kono suddenly piped up. "Suddenly switching from burning to asphyxia is quite a jump, and that's if you don't count the frogs' legs."

"That's true," Chin agreed. "Most serials don't just randomly change their method of killing. There's got to be some kind of reason for changing."

"It's actually almost like the killer wants them to suffer," Steve hypothesized. "Burning and suffocation, they're two of the most painful and terrifying ways to die."

"Is he punishing them?" Kono asked.

"Maybe," Danny said. "He wants to cause them pain. We just need to find out why."

Steve's phone rang, interrupting their musings. "It's Charlie," he stated, and raised the phone to his ear. "Charlie, what have you got for us…? Are you serious...? That's brilliant. We'll be there soon." Hanging up, Steve looked at the others. "Charlie found some DNA on the cable ties from our killer. He's got an ID."

**I hope this was worth the long wait. It's half-term next week, so, once my homework is done and out of the way, I'll be free to write for the rest of the week. Until then, I bid you adieu x**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay, I managed to update in less than a week! I think that's an impressive feat for me right now, considering the amount of work I'm having to do at the moment. I've been having quite a bit of trouble with Chemistry; some of the concepts are extremely hard to wrap your head around. But I'm finally starting to get the hang of it... at least, I hope. I had a test this week, and I didn't get quite so good a mark on that, so I'm going to redo it. I'm on half-term now, though, which means I have an entire week off for some (I think) well-deserved R&amp;R, and to revise for the test again.  
****Thanks for the reviews you've all been leaving. Everyone's starting to build their own theories of the killer's motives, but I won't reveal just yet who's got it right. I'm going to leave you all in suspense for just a little bit longer. I'm cruel, I know, but hey, it's fun to be cruel sometimes XD**

"Charlie, give us something good," Steve called out as he and Danny strode into the lab. "Who'd the DNA come back to?"

"Miriam Joseph." Charlie brought up a photo of a young woman on the computer. She couldn't have been more than twenty-four or twenty-five.

Danny frowned at the picture of the petite young woman. "You know, she doesn't really look the type to be able to kill three people," he remarked.

"No, she doesn't," Steve agreed. "But her DNA was found on Stefan Bowen, so she's involved in this, somehow." The SEAL turned to Charlie and flashed him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Charlie."

"No problem, guys," the scientist replied. "Let me know if there's anything else you want me to do."

* * *

"What do we know about Miriam Joseph?" Steve asked as he and Danny returned to HQ. Danny had called the cousins from the car and filled them in on what Charlie had found.

"Very little to connect her to the victims," Chin reported. "She works at the Sunset Beach café during the week, which is where Bowen's girlfriend works, but that's the only connection she has to the victims."

"Okay. You guys go pick her up," Steve said. "We'll try and establish some kind of link between Miriam Joseph and the victims."

"Sure. Back soon, brah," Kono called over her shoulder as she and Chin moved towards the exit.

Steve watched them go, then turned to look at Danny. The blond detective was staring at the photos of the crime scenes, frowning slightly and nibbling on his bottom lip as he did when he was deep in thought. "Danny?" His partner looked up sharply, as if he had forgotten that Steve was with him. "Do you want to share whatever's got you thinking so hard?"

Danny looked back down at the photos and shook his head. "There's something about these murders," he murmured. "There's something… I don't know, something _familiar _about them."

"Have you had a case like this before?" Steve asked, but Danny shook his head in the negative.

"That's the thing; I've never had a case like this before, but I know that I've seen something like this before."

"Don't linger on it; it'll just drive you crazy," Steve advised. "It might come back to you, though." Danny nodded, but said nothing.

* * *

Chin and Kono entered the Sunset Beach café and headed towards the counter. A young man who was stood behind smiled at them as they came in.

"Hi, can I take your orders?"

Chin held his badge up for the kid to see. "Maybe later," he replied. "Is Miriam Joseph working today?"

"Yeah, she is, but she's on a break right now," the young man answered.

"Where does she take her breaks?"

"In the back room. Last door on the left down there."

Kono nodded. "Thanks." As the cousins headed towards the back room, the door opened and Miriam Joseph came out. She was a very petite woman, barely reaching five feet, with mousy-brown hair and hunched shoulders. She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Chin and Kono approaching. For a moment, Miriam stood there, shoulders quaking as she stared at them, before she suddenly turned and dashed for the back door. Chin and Kono exchanged a look with each other before they followed Miriam.

The back door of the café led to an alleyway, rubbish piled up against the walls on both sides. Not only did it make the alley smell very ripe, but it provided places for Miriam to hide from the cousins. Kono ran out into the alleyway and looked up both ends, hair whipping her face, as she searched for the woman.

"I don't see her," Kono groaned. "Do you?"

Chin turned slowly and carefully, inspecting every inch of the alley as thoroughly as was possible from where he stood. She was here, he knew; there wasn't any way that she would have been able to run that quickly.

A small noise to his left had him whipping his head around, and he and Kono both pulled their weapons from their holsters. Slowly, they moved towards where the noise had originated from. Kono reached out cautiously and grabbed one of the rubbish bags, flinging it to the side. As she did, Miriam Joseph shrieked and raised her arms as if to protect herself from them.

"Peek-a-boo." Kono stared down at the terrified woman. "I see you."

* * *

Steve and Danny watched Miriam Joseph sitting in the steel chair in the middle of the interrogation room, cowering slightly and refusing to look up at either of them. She hadn't said a word to either Chin or Kono when they had brought her back to HQ.

"Miriam, I'm sure you know why you're here," Danny started. "We're investigating a case, and we found your DNA at one of the crime scenes." He waited a beat to allow Miriam to speak, but she remained silent. "Care to explain how that happens?"

Miriam simply shook her head, keeping her gaze on the floor. "I can't…" she whispered almost inaudibly.

Danny sighed and crouched down in front of her, intercepting her gaze. "Alright, Miriam, listen to me. You could be facing life imprisonment, okay, and prison is not nice. It is, in a nutshell, a struggle for survival. Now, I don't think you did this, and I don't want to see you go down for this." Pausing for a second, Danny studied her face to see if she had understood what he had told her. "So I am going to ask you again: how did your DNA end up at the crime scene?"

Miriam's lower lip quivered. "I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to hurt anyone. But… he… he made me…"

"Who? Who made you do it?" Steve asked, stepping forwards.

That was as much as Miriam was willing to reveal; she shook her head vigorously, tears dripping down her cheeks. "No! I can't! I… He'll know, and… You'll hurt him. I can't let you hurt him."

"Miriam, whoever is forcing you to do this is hurting you," Danny countered. "You didn't want to do this, but he's making you. I want to help you, but you need to tell me who made you do this."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry; I… I can't."

Danny rose to his feet again and left swiftly, shoving the door open. Miriam flinched as it banged off the cinder-block wall.

Steve watched him go, and turned back to Miriam, pulling her up from the chair and cuffing her hands behind her back. "Miriam Joseph, you're under arrest on suspicion of three counts of first degree murder and two counts of abduction. You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights I have just read you?" he recited the Miranda rights word for word. There was no way he was going to screw up this case, and if that meant doing everything by the book, then so be it. As he led her from the room, Steve murmured in her ear, "If I would you, I would seriously reconsider doing what you're about to do."

* * *

They told him that Miriam had been arrested. Two cops from Five-0 had shown up and taken her away. He couldn't believe it. Why? Why did they have to interfere? Couldn't they see that this had to be done? He had to do this. If not him, then who else?

She would keep quiet, though; that he was sure of. She wouldn't betray him like that. He had taught her better than that. Her absence wouldn't make much difference, either; he didn't really need her help for this, but she had to learn. After all, if not her, then who else?

**A bit of a fast-paced, short chapter, but I hope everyone liked that. Let me know in your reviews what you thought of that. And I know that I said I have a week off now, but at the moment, it's looking unlikely that I'll get the next chapter up any time soon, since I'm extremely busy this weekend and I've had a crap-load of homework set for me by my oh-so-lovely teachers. But I will get it up when I can; you're just going to have to be patient with my A-Level schedule, I'm afraid.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, so I managed to finish all my homework pretty quickly, actually, which left my week wide open for relaxation and writing; I've even managed to finish the next chapter as well. It started out as one chapter, but I felt it was getting too long, so I split it into two chapters.  
****I have had a lovely day out with Skyflower51 and our best friends; we went ice skating in London, where we fell over loads (bruises are now showing up all over my body), we ate at this posh French café which was ridiculously expensive, and then headed up to Covent Garden for a touch of window shopping. We didn't get a lot of time there, because we had to be back on the train before four o'clock, because of the peak travel times, and finished with Halloween. We've got some good decorations, but we've got nothing on my neighbour, who absolutely _adores _Halloween. So, because I've had an absolutely brilliant day, I'm going to post both chapters tonight for you. Enjoy! **

Danny and Steve strode back into HQ, slamming the glass door open and coming dangerously to shattering the glass.

"Did it not go well with Miriam?" Kono asked warily.

"She told us that she didn't do this herself," Danny replied. "But I don't think any of us had any doubt of that. She clammed up after that, though; wouldn't tell us who forced her to do this."

"I think she's afraid of him," Steve added. "I think she's afraid that he'll know she told, and come after her."

"So basically, we're still stuck at square one?" Chin summarised. "No link and no credible suspects?"

"'Fraid so," Danny confirmed, and ran his fingers through his hair. "God, this is the worst situation a cop can ever be in."

"And it's just going to get worse from here on out," Kono sighed.

* * *

Now. He had to do it now. He couldn't put it off any longer. This had to be done now. He had watched from a distance, scrutinising the devil's moves. It hadn't been too hard, but he had waited for long enough now. It was time to carry out his duty.

* * *

Danny, Chin and Kono all flinched as they heard Steve swear loudly in his office.

"Oh, that does not sound good," Danny murmured, staring at their leader's office, where the SEAL had curled his fingers into his hair and had his eyes scrunched closed. The others knew that this was not normal for their stoic team leader, and frankly they were all starting to feel concerned.

As if sensing their gazes on him, Steve's eyes snapped open and he turned sharply to look at the team. He swallowed heavily as he walked around his desk and left his office.

"Is everything okay, Steve?" Kono asked cautiously, knowing everything was not okay.

Steve wet his lips with his tongue before answering. "That was, er… That was Duke. We've got victim number 4 now."

Alarm grew in all of them at that news. "But… But it's only been three days!" Kono exclaimed, eyes wide with shock. "There's always been at least a week between the murders!"

"I know, Kono, and that's why, as of now, this case is our highest priority," Steve replied. The determined glint had once again returned to his eyes. "All other cases will be handed to HPD until this one is closed. This is to be our only focus for now." No-one argued.

* * *

The Camaro and the Cruze skidded to a stop outside the house, and the Five-0 team got out and strode towards the building. The HPD and CSU personnel at the scene all parted for them; everyone knew how high-profile this case was, and no-one was stupid enough to get in the way of Steve McGarrett when he was out to catch a killer.

"Duke?" Steve called out as the team entered the house. "Fill me in."

The sergeant left the living room, a harried look on his face. "It's bad, Steve," he started. "We got the call just under an hour ago. A kid – Chris Lawrence – was found convulsing in his room. He had a '4' carved into his neck. The mom called an ambulance, and then us."

"Do we have any idea yet what caused this?" Danny asked.

"Not yet. I've got HPD searching the kid's room with CSU to try and find some evidence, but so far, we haven't found anything."

"Is the kid still alive?" Steve interjected. A surviving victim was the best thing that could possibly happen for this case.

"As far as we know," Duke replied. "We haven't had any word back from the hospital yet."

Steve nodded. "Let's assume he's still alive," he said. "Chin, Kono, head over to the hospital. Speak to his mother and his doctor. If you're able to, speak to Chris as well." The cousins nodded and left.

"The victim's father is in here," Duke added, leading them into the living room. A man in his late-forties was sat on the sofa, head in his hands, not acknowledging their presence. "Mr Lawrence, this is the Five-0 taskforce; they'll be investigating your son's case."

The distraught father raised his head to look at Steve and Danny with bloodshot eyes. "Are you going to find who did this to my son?" he croaked.

"We'll do our best to do so, sir," Steve promised. "We need to ask you a few questions, though."

Mr Lawrence nodded. "O-Of course. What do you need to know?"

"Can you tell us exactly what happened? Can you walk us through it?" Danny asked.

"Umm… I don't- I don't even know myself exactly what happened," Lawrence admitted. "I was at work until half past twelve. I only have to drive fifteen minutes to work, so I usually come home during the day so I can have lunch here. Jen called me when I was driving back; said there was something wrong with Chris. By the time I got here, he was already having a fit and the ambulance was here and…" He stopped suddenly, pressing a fist against his mouth and trembling slightly. "I don't even know if he's still alive," he whispered.

Steve and Danny paused for a few moments to allow the father to compose himself again before continuing. "Mr Lawrence, your son had a four cut into his neck. We've been investigating a case where the killer numbers his victims."

His eyes widened as what little colour remaining drained from his face. "Wha… My boy's the victim of a serial killer?" he repeated, horrified.

"It's the killer's signature," Danny confirmed. "We're still trying to establish a link between the victims."

"Do the names Richard Harrington, Laura Henderson or Stefan Bowen sound familiar at all?" Steve asked.

Mr Lawrence thought for a moment, before shaking his head. "No, I don't recognise those names; I'm sorry."

"It's all right; don't get worked about it," Danny calmed him.

Mr Lawrence looked away from them, towards several photos on a bookshelf. Most of them showed a young boy in various stages of childhood. "Why would someone do this to my son?" he asked, almost to himself. "He… He's just a kid. Why do this?"

A loud curse from the bedrooms had Steve and Danny, along with Duke, sprinting to the back of the house. The CSU techs were running from the room as if the devil himself were chasing them, while two HPD officers had their guns pointed towards the doorway.

"What the hell is going on?" Duke demanded, glaring at his officers.

Steve grabbed one of the techs as he ran past. "What happened?" he asked as calmly as he could.

"Th-There- There… There's a snake in there!" he yammered in terror, before yanking his arm out of Steve's grip and bolting down the hallway.

Steve turned to Duke. "Call Animal Control," he ordered, and Duke nodded, grabbing his radio, as he and Danny each removed their guns from their holsters and entered the room, the two HPD officers following behind them.

Chris' room was a tip; clothes seemed to litter every surface here, along with a small pile of plates and glasses by the bed. A schoolbag lay in front of a chest of drawers, papers littered around it. The curtains were still drawn, plunging the room into near-darkness. Steve thought it was a wonder the techs had managed to see anything at all in here.

A quiet hiss had him whirling around and pointing his gun in the direction of the wardrobe. He glanced at Danny, who confirmed with a quick nod that he had also heard it, and slowly withdrew his torch from his pocket. He flicked the switch and pointed the beam towards the wardrobe. There was a guttural hiss, and a small snake reared up, baring its fangs at the partners.

Steve squinted as he took in the snake's colouring. "Red touch yellow, kill a fellow. Red touch black, friend of Jack," he recited the rhyme. The snake had yellow on either side of its red bands. "That's a coral snake."

"How potent is their venom?" Danny asked, never taking his eyes off the snake.

"Extremely," Steve answered shortly. "Its venom is a neurotoxin. It paralyses the breathing muscles and causes respiratory failure."

"God," Danny murmured.

"Call Chin. Tell him to tell the doctor it was a coral snake. Chris needs antivenin now." Danny slowly backed out of the room, extracting his phone from his pocket. As soon as he was out of the room, he sighed heavily and quickly dialled Chin's number.

He bounced on the balls of his feet impatiently, as the phone rang one, two, three times. "Pick up," he growled.

"_Danny?"_

"Chin, listen to me…"

* * *

Chin hung up with Danny and looked urgently at Kono. "The kid was bitten by a coral snake."

"Seriously?" Kono questioned, eyes wide with disbelief. "They're not native to Hawaii, though."

"Well, they found a really pissed off coral snake in Chris' bedroom," Chin replied, and strode to the front desk, looming over the surprised receptionist. "Page Chris Lawrence's doctor."

"I'm sorry; I can't-"

"This involves the patient's life," Chin shouted, cutting across her words. "Now page his doctor or I will hold you personally responsible for that boy's death."

The now terrified woman nodded jerkily and called for a Doctor Meritts to come to the waiting room. Nearly five minutes passed before the doctor made an appearance. He was in his mid to late-fifties, with salt and pepper hair, but with an air of authority about him.

"This had better be important, dammit," he snapped at the poor receptionist. "I'm still trying to diagnose my patient."

"Doctor Meritts, I'm sorry," Chin apologised. "I'm Detective Kelly with the Governor's taskforce. We're investigating Chris Lawrence's attack. Two of my colleagues found a coral snake in his room."

"Are they sure it's a coral snake?" Dr Meritts asked urgently, the irritation long gone and replaced with anxiety. "It can be incredibly tricky, treating snake bites."

"My boss identified it as a coral snake; it has touching red and yellow bands," Chin confirmed. "You need to give Chris antivenin now."

"Yes, I know," Meritts nodded. "Thank you; you may have just saved the boy's life." He turned and dashed back through the double doors, leaving Chin and Kono to wonder if they had been quick enough.

* * *

Danny hung up with Chin as he watched Animal Control carry the snake out of the house, coiled in the back of the cage and hissing angrily.

"Chris Lawrence has been given the antivenin," he filled Steve in as the SEAL came out. "Now it's just a matter of wait-and-see."

"Hopefully, he got it in time," Steve replied.

"Where do you get venomous snakes?" Danny wondered. "I mean, it's not like you can just walk into a pet shop and ask for a coral snake. "

"Plus coral snakes aren't indigenous to Hawaii," Steve added. "The only thing I can think of is the killer stole it from a zoo."

"Then let's start there," the detective said, spreading his hands as if it were obvious. "I can check with HPD if they've had any reports of thefts at any zoos in Honolulu."

"Do that," Steve nodded. "Get Miriam back in the interrogation room, as well. We need to talk to her again."


	9. Chapter 9

"We've got three bodies in the morgue, Miriam, and a sixteen-year-old in the hospital," Danny started as he stood in front of the young woman, once again sat in the metal chair, hands cuffed to the seat. "We need you to tell us everything you know, okay?"

Miriam wouldn't look up at either him or Steve. "I can't," she murmured. "I told you can't."

"Why not?" he pressed. "You told us yourself; you don't want to do this. So why won't you say who it is?"

"You'll hurt him," she whispered, eyes full of tears.

"Miriam, we won't hurt him if we can help it," Danny said. "But you need to help us here, okay? Tell us who he is." Miriam let out a little sob and shook her head.

"Who is he to you?" Steve asked suddenly, tilting his head and regarding her appraisingly. "Is he your husband? Boyfriend? Brother?" Miriam stiffened slightly when Steve mentioned 'brother' and risked a glance at him. Steve raised his eyebrows, knowing he was right. "He's your brother. That's why you're protecting him."

Danny frowned slightly as he saw Miriam start shaking. There was definitely a reason why Miriam was protecting her brother, but she was obviously fragile; they would have to question her gently to get that reason out of her. However, he and everyone else knew that Steve often bypassed the gentle approach and opted for the direct approach.

"Your brother is a killer," Steve continued, taking a step forward and oblivious to the fact that he was intimidating Miriam. "And you are protecting him. You are as bad as he is."

Danny grasped his forearm, squeezing it slightly. "Steve, ease up," he warned.

Steve carried on, ignoring Danny. "Do you secretly enjoy killing these people? Is that it?" he demanded, voice growing loudly.

Miriam let out a little sob and shook her head. "N-No, th-that's not it…"

"Then what is it?" Steve shouted, looming over her, ignoring the fact that tears were now streaming down her face.

"Steve, that's enough," Danny interjected, alarmed at Miriam's distress.

"Why are you lying to us?!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Danny bellowed, voice echoing around the room. "Back off, Steven!"

Steve glared at Danny, panting as if he had just run a race. Making a disgusted noise in the back of his throat, he turned and stormed out. Danny watched him go, an appalled look on his face, but covered his outrage as he turned back to the young woman.

"Miriam, I'm going to get someone from HPD to take you back to your cell, okay?" She nodded and sniffed loudly. "All right; good girl." Giving her a quick pat on the shoulder, Danny stormed out after McGarrett and found him pacing the corridor. He saw his own anger reflected in his partner's eyes.

"What the hell, Danny?" Steve barked, spreading his arms wide as the detective approached.

"I could ask you the same thing!" he retorted. "Scaring her like that? What the hell were you thinking?"

"She knows where her brother is, and she's withholding that information from us!"

"I know that, McGarrett!" Danny yelled. "But she is obviously terrified of her brother, so of course she's not going to be willing to talk. Furthermore, browbeating her into talking is not going to work."

"At least it's better than your approach!" Steve bit back. "You'd just bore them into talking! How the hell you even solved a case like that is beyond me!"

Danny was speechless for a moment. "Alright. If my approach is so rubbish, solve this case without me, then." Without another word, Danny pushed past Steve and stormed away down the corridor. If he had looked back, he would have seen a hurt look cross Steve's face.

By the time he reached the car par, Danny was absolutely fuming. He reached the Camaro and paced back and forth a few times. His anger at Steve intensified, and he found himself whirling around and pounding his fist into the hood of the Camaro. Pain rippled through his hand, but Danny ignored it and punched the metal a second time, a third time.

After the fifth punch, Danny stopped and took a deep breath. The stress of this investigation was getting to them all; it was an awful case, and it just happened to be now that the stress of it all bubbled over. All he and Steve could do for now was take the rest of the day to cool off and return to the case tomorrow. Collapsing into the driver's seat with a sigh, Danny reversed out of the car park and drove away.

* * *

Grace was already home by the time Danny arrived, since she'd only had a half day at school. Just seeing his daughter was enough to help Danny feel slightly calmer about the situation.

"Hi, Danno," she greeted him with a smile, which quickly turned into a frown. "What happened to your hand?"

Glancing down, Danny noticed that the skin on his knuckles was torn and slightly bloody, and a bruise was already starting to form. "Oh, don't worry about it, Gracie. It just needs to be cleaned and dressed."

"Is that why you're home now?"

"That, and I needed a break and I needed to see you," he replied, placing a quick kiss on the top of her head. "How's your homework going?"

Grace glanced at the small pile of exercise books and textbooks that had been built up over the last hour or so. "Slow. I've got quite a lot to do. Do we have a Bible anywhere? My RS teacher told us that we need to start using Bible quotes to support our answers."

"We should do. I'll find it for you in a minute." Danny headed down the hallway to the bathroom and got his first aid kit out of the cupboard underneath the sink. He pulled out a couple of sterile pads from the kit and carefully cleaned the jagged cuts, hissing at the sting, and pressed a couple of butterfly strips to the worst of the scrapes.

Discarding the pads, Danny looked at his reflection in the mirror, taking in the dark bags under his eyes. He hadn't had a case like this in years, where it constantly weighed on your mind and kept you awake at night. It was worse this time around, because of the feeling that he had seen something similar to this before. It was driving him absolutely crazy! Where had he seen this before?

Shaking his head, Danny left the bathroom and entered his bedroom. As he stepped through the doorway, the realisation hit him like a sledgehammer and stopped dead.

"Oh, my God, that's it!" Danny whispered to himself.

**There you go. There's your Halloween treat from me. Please leave reviews, I only got two reviews for chapter 7. I missed you all! Please please please please leave reviews!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow, okay, so it's been a long time since I updated, and I am so sorry for that, and leaving you all hanging for so long. Life has been absolutely hectic, particularly my A-Levels; we're getting down to the juicy parts of the courses. I've had to redo two tests already, one Chemistry and one Biology, and had a Maths test yesterday. Really, _really _horrible test. But hey ho, I've survived another week.  
Anyways, here's the next chapter for you all. Hope it's satisfactory :)**

Chin returned to the office and found Steve leaning wearily against the computer table, a disconsolate look on his face.

"Steve?" he called cautiously, and watched as his boss jumped and whirled around, relaxing when he saw it was Chin.

"Oh, hey. How's the kid doing?"

"He's responding to the treatment, but it's still very much tough and go," Chin replied. "His doctor said that it's unlikely we'll be able to speak to him before tomorrow at the earliest."

"Okay. Is Kono still at the hospital?"

"Yeah, she's going to speak to the mom and see if she can get anything from her," he replied. "Where's Danny gone?"

At Chin's question, Steve's shoulders slumped. "I don't know where he's gone," he revealed. "He stormed out of here a while ago."

"What? What happened?" Chin asked, frowning. "I thought you were questioning Miriam?" When Steve didn't answer, Chin came over to the computer table and saw that the former SEAL had an almost tormented look on his face. "Steve. What. Happened?"

Steve shook his head as he answered, "I… I went too far. Danny was questioning Miriam, but she wouldn't say anything, so I took a shot at it and I got too carried away."

"Steve, what did you do?"

Steve ran his hands through his hair, sighing heavily. "I ended up shouting at her, and Danny told me to back off. I didn't even realise I was terrifying her. Danny and I were arguing in the corridor; he said that I couldn't bully her into talking, and I…"

"What?" Chin pushed. "You did what?"

"I questioned his abilities as a detective," he admitted, hanging his head in shame.

Chin pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to tamp down the frustration at Steve that he could feel building. They all knew how much Danny had suffered at HPD in the six months before Five-0 had been formed; apart from Meka, all the cops had hated him, doubted his competence and done everything they could to make his life hell. To have his partner – his brother – question his capabilities would have definitely been a low blow.

"Steve…"

"I know; I went too far," Steve interrupted him before he could say anything. "But I didn't mean to. I just wanted answers from Miriam, and…"

"I get it, Steve. I do," Chin added when Steve glanced at him sceptically. "We're all stressed out right now, and we're all a little short-tempered."

"It's still no excuse for what I said," Steve countered miserably. "I went too far this time."

"Yes, you did go too far," Chin agreed. "But Danny will know that you didn't mean it. Once he's had some time to cool down, you can make it up to him, okay?"

Steve nodded. "Okay."

"Good. So what did you manage to get from Miriam?"

"She was afraid to say anything about the killer, and we found out why: he's her brother," Steve explained.

"Her brother? Are you sure?" Chin asked.

"Positive. I got a name as well." Steve brought up an ID card. "His name's Alexander Joseph. He worked for the city council as a plumber until a few years ago when they made several employees redundant."

It was almost too good for Chin to believe; almost a month of brutal murders and no leads, and finally, they had a name. "Do we have an address for him?"

"I haven't gotten that far yet."

Chin frowned as he studied the killer's face. "The MO still doesn't make any sense, though. Why all the changes in method?"

"Actually, the MO does make sense," a voice answered from behind them. Steve and Chin turned to see Danny striding towards them. "He's emulating the seven deadly sins."

Steve and Chin stared at him for a moment, almost daring him to say he was kidding. "You're joking, right?" Steve asked, but Danny shook his head.

"Wish I were. See, I knew I'd seen these somewhere before, but it wasn't a case," he explained. "The nuns at my high school showed us pictures of the punishments in hell for those that were guilty."

"That's messed up," Steve stated, receiving nods of agreement from both Chin and Danny. "So, Richard Harrington…?"

"His colleagues hated him because he would filch their wages and flaunted his money; that's the sin of greed," Danny revealed. "The punishment for that is to be boiled in oil."

"Isopropyl alcohol." Steve recalled the trace Charlie found on Harrington's body.

"Laura Henderson slept with her sister's husband," Chin remembered. "That could be the sin of lust."

"Yeah, and Charlie found traces of sulphur on her body," Danny added. "Another name for sulphur? Brimstone, which the lustful would be buried in."

"And Stefan Bowen had frogs' legs forced down his throat. That's gluttony," Steve realised, and then frowned. "What about Chris Lawrence? Bitten by a snake? Which sin does that punish?"

"Sloth," Danny answered. "And it should actually be thrown into a pit of snakes, but imagine trying to lug that around."

Steve leaned against the table with a heavy sigh. "These are all very disturbing, you know," he muttered. "Snakes, fire, frogs…"

"Well, it's not exactly like I came up with these," Danny snarked. "But yes, you are right; these are extremely unsettling."

"So what sins are left?"

"Wrath, pride and envy," he answered. "Dismemberment, broken on the wheel and placed in freezing water."

Steve groaned and rubbed his eyes. "Oh, great, it's going to get even messier."

"Not if we catch Joseph before he can claim any more victims," Chin pointed out, pulling his phone from his pocket. "I'll call Kono and fill her in."

As Chin disappeared into his office, Steve suddenly felt uncomfortable and nervous about being left alone with Danny. He hadn't felt that way in years. Danny could feel Steve's anxiety practically radiating off of him in waves, and knew it was from this morning. The man had a terrible guilt complex; no doubt he was now feeling responsible for the argument earlier.

"What did you manage to find, Steve?" Danny asked, in an attempt to diffuse the awkwardness.

Thankful for the diversion, Steve started to fill him in. "I got an ID for Miriam's brother. His name's Alexander Joseph. He's a plumber; worked for the city council until he got laid off a few years ago."

Danny nodded. "He might have done some work for each of the victims and observed them. That could be how he picks his victims."

"Could be," Steve agreed. The awkward silence fell between them again for several moments, before Steve spoke up again. "Listen, Danny, I-I'm sorry about-"

Danny, however, held up a hand, forestalling Steve's apology. "Don't, Steve," he interrupted. "I'm not angry about this morning. Well, not anymore," he amended quickly. "This is an awful case, and it's getting to us all. It just happened to be today that it all bubbled over."

"Still, I shouldn't have said that," Steve argued. "I shouldn't have questioned your capability as a detective."

"No, you shouldn't have, and usually when someone does, I punch them in the face," Danny replied. "But I'm not angry this time, Steve, so you can stop with the blame and self-reproach."

Steve couldn't help the chuckle that escaped from his mouth. "Alright, noted."

A small smile tugged on Danny's lips, and he held out his arms. "Come here," he muttered, pulling the taller man into a brotherly, back-slapping hug. "We're okay, Steve."

Steve pulled back from the embrace and turned back to the computer table, as Chin returned from his office. "Okay," he whispered, mostly to himself. "Before we do anything else, we need to make sure that Alex Joseph had contact with every victim. Danny, go speak to Laura Henderson's sister, and the husband as well. Chin, speak to Stefan Bowen's girlfriend. I'll head over to Harrington's address, and speak to his wife."

* * *

Alexander Joseph sat in his van, reciting the Creed as he handled a set of rosary beads. As he finished, he crossed himself, before hooking the beads over his rear-view mirror once more. Joseph gazed at the cross for several moments, before he shifted his gaze to look out the window at the Ali'iolani Hale, a refuge for sinners and deviants alike.

"God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life," he murmured. "But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger."

**We've now got motive. Well done to Jazzieg who was the first to correctly guess what the killer's motive is :). I will get the next chapter up when possible; my schedule now gives me very little writing time. But for now, read and review please x**


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, so I have not had the best of weeks so far. On Monday, I found out that I had failed a test I was pretty confident in, so I had to do a retest for that, which my dad made me feel like crap about, because the teachers all say that we should be happy that we're achieving Cs and Bs, because A-Levels are _incredibly _hard, but according to my dad, I'm not achieving high enough. Secondly, on Tuesday, I had ANOTHER Chemistry test which I had been dreading, because everyone who has done says it is really hard; my best friend, who is very smart had to do it again. And then yesterday, I hadn't given in my Stats homework, which was due on Monday, because I had done the wrong exercise. So I tried to do it again for my teacher before Wednesday, but didn't manage that, because I struggled so much with it; I had to do it five times, just to get 50%! And now, today, my teacher put up an exam question that was a really, _really _awful one that I had no idea how to do. I had to leave the lesson because of it! So this week... close to being one of my top ten worst weeks.  
Sorry, I just needed to rant there. Sorry about the delay (see above). But it is now done, it's finished, and I've got tomorrow to look forward to: another Star Wars day with Skyflower51 and Blaxconiox!**

Around half an hour later, Steve returned to HQ, finding Chin already stood next to the computer table.

"Sally Harrington didn't recognise Alex Joseph, so I contacted his employees at the bank," he started as he approached the older man. "He fixed the pipes in the break room there a few weeks previously."

Chin nodded. "He would have seen Harrington as the sin of greed there, and his employees would have backed up his view."

"Exactly. What about Bowen's girlfriend?" Steve asked. "Did she recognise Joseph?"

"Yeah, she did. Joseph fitted a new shower for them about a week before he was killed," Chin replied. "I already called Kono, as well; she spoke to Jemima Lawrence and told her about Joseph's motive. She said that Chris is a typical teenage boy; spends most of his time ensconced in his room, and sleeps like a vampire."

"Ergo, he is sloth. When was Joseph at their house?"

"Only a couple of days ago, apparently; they hired him to fix a blocked drain."

"Two days ago?" Steve questioned, frowning at the rapid escalation. "He's really stepping up his game."

"If he is, Joseph is going to start getting careless," the Hawaiian added. "He's going to make it easier for us to catch him."

"Let's hope so," Steve murmured, just as his phone rang. "It's Danny," he said, glancing at the caller ID. "Hey Danny, you're on speaker."

"_Hey," _Danny's voice came over the line._ "I spoke to Charlotte Henderson again; she recognised Joseph, but he didn't do any work for her. It was actually for her neighbour, Valerie. Apparently, Valerie likes to talk."_

"So she told Joseph that Laura slept with her sister's husband," Chin surmised.

"_And he sees her as the sin of lust."_

"Chin, get on the phone to Judge Kanai for a warrant; we've got enough for probable cause," Steve ordered, and Chin nodded, moving towards his office to call the judge's office. "Danny, I'll send you Joseph's address."

"_Okay, I'll meet you there," _he said, before hanging up.

* * *

Nearly an hour later, Steve, Danny and Chin gathered outside Alex Joseph's house. "Chin, you go in from the back. Danny and I'll breach from the back," Steve quickly explained. Chin nodded and headed around to the back of the property, while Steve and Danny approached the front door.

Glancing quickly at Danny, Steve raised an eyebrow, silently asking if he was ready, and received a nod in reply. Steve nodded and drew his leg back, kicking the door in, before quickly stepping back to allow Danny to move in ahead of him. Towards the back of the property, they heard Chin kick down the back door.

Steve signalled to Danny to clear the living room, while he moved into the dining room. With a quick, sweeping gaze around the room, Steve searched the room for anything to do with the seven deadly sins, but initially, nothing stood out.

He lowered his weapon and blew out a breath. "Clear!" he yelled to Chin and Danny, receiving the same back from the two of them.

"You guys are going to want to see this," Chin added.

Danny and Steve followed Chin's voice into the bedroom at the back of the house, and were greeted by the sight of Joseph's obsession. The entire wall opposite was covered in graphic images of punishments in hell – artists' interpretations over the years – of the seven deadly sins. Bibles lined the bookshelf, and another lay open on his bed.

Danny moved over to the bed and picked up the Bible. "'There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.' Proverbs," he read, looking up at Steve and Chin as he finished.

"He is truly obsessed, isn't he?" Chin remarked.

"If Joseph is methodical and careful, he's not going to come back here," Steve pointed out. "He's got to have a second place to hide out in. We need to get a BOLO out on him."

"I'll call HPD," Danny replied, leaving the room as he pulled his phone out.

Chin glanced at Steve as he glared around the room. He could see the anger and frustration clearly on his face. "Steve?"

The former SEAL stopped in his pacing to look sharply at Chin. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed heavily. "We were so close, Chin," he murmured. "We were this close to getting him. And now we're back to square one."

"No, we're not," Chin countered. "Joseph knows we're onto him now, and we're closing in. He's been spooked now. In his mind, he needs to finish this before we arrest him; he's going to start getting reckless now."

Steve took in a breath as he listened to what Chin was saying, and the calm, detached front slid back into place. "Okay. Let's get back to HQ; we can come up with a strategy there."

As they left the bedroom, Danny came back down the hallway. "HPD has put out a BOLO on Alex Joseph, and alerted the news as well. If Joseph is seen anywhere, HPD will get a call."

"Alright, good," Steve nodded. "We need to head back and try and find where Joseph might be hiding out now. We need to talk to Miriam again, too. She wanted to protect her brother; she may know where he'd go."

Danny reached out and grasped Steve's arm as he tried to walk past him. "Steve, hold up. It probably wouldn't be the best idea to speak to Miriam again so soon," he suggested.

The look Steve gave him was one of disbelief. "What? She could know where her brother's going to go, Danny; we need to talk to her again."

"After you nearly scared her to death this morning?" Danny retorted, raising his eyebrows. Steve flushed in embarrassment as Danny reminded him of his behaviour that morning. "We'll talk to her tomorrow, Steve. She needs some time to calm down, as do you."

"We need to find him, though," Steve argued, despite the fact that he knew it would be pointless.

"And we will. We've got a BOLO out on him, so we'll know when he's been seen," the blond reasoned. "But you need to take a step back for now, all right, and come back to it tomorrow in a calm state of mind."

Steve nodded, giving up the fight. "Alright. Let's go, then."

**Okay, so I hope that was worth the wait. Please, please, please, pleeeease leave reviews; I need nice things to undo all the badness of this week!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Oh, wow, it's been a long time since I posted for this story. Thank you all so much for being patient and for being so understanding. I've finished all my exams now, and I'm getting my results back, so everything's a little relaxed right now. Updates are still going to be very much here and there, but I am currently writing chapter 14, so I may get this story finished soon. For now, I hope you enjoy this long-overdue chapter.**

Returning to HQ, Steve, Danny and Chin found Kono already back in the office, and standing by the computer table. She glanced up at them as they came in, and instantly frowned at their crestfallen expressions.

"No luck?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, Joseph wasn't there," Chin shook his head.

"Left his sebastomanic collection behind, though," Danny added. "I think it might be an idea to get a unit to watch the place."

"Why?" Steve questioned. "Joseph's not going to go back there. He knows we're into him now, so he's going to look for another place to lay low, if he doesn't already."

"Psychopaths always fixate on one thing; it becomes an obsession for them. In Joseph's case, it was religion," Danny explained. "His collection will be important to him; it's the basis of his psychosis. There's a chance, albeit a small one, that he will go back and try to take it. I've seen killers do it before; it's that important to them."

"I agree," Chin concurred. "It is a long shot, but this isn't something that we can overlook, Steve."

Steve nodded. "Okay, then. Call Duke and get them to send a unit over there."

"I'll do that now." Chin took his phone from his pocket and dialled the sergeant, moving towards his office as he did.

"I did a little more digging into Joseph's background when I got back from the hospital," Kono stated. "Thought I'd see if I could find out why he became so obsessed with religion."

"What did you find?"

"I found some reports from Social Services; when Joseph was eight years old, he and Miriam were moved to a foster home because a neighbour suspected they were being abused." She swiped the reports up onto the computer screen as Chin returned. "Their father was well-known for having a temper."

"What about the mother?" Steve asked.

"Social Services didn't think she was involved in the abuse, and once she was cleared, she was allowed to visit," Kono replied. "She actually filed for a divorce after the incident and was granted custody of the children. David Joseph, the father, had to attend mandatory anger management classes before he could visit."

"Does she still live on the island?" Chin questioned.

Kono shook her head. "She died a year after the divorce. The hospital report says it was a brain aneurysm."

"Alex and Miriam would have gone back to their father, wouldn't they?" Danny asked. "Unless there were any other relatives on the island."

"Their only other relative was their grandmother, and she was in a retirement home on the mainland, so yeah, David was granted custody and his anger management sessions were moved up to twice a week."

"Joseph was raised only by his father from the age of nine. Maybe it was his father who instilled the religious obsession?" Chin suggested.

"Possibly. We'll talk to Miriam again tomorrow and see if she can't tell us where her brother would go to hide," Steve added.

"Tomorrow?" Kono asked, confused. "She's down at HPD; we can easily get her back up here."

"Oh yeah, you missed this, Kono," Danny said and glanced at Steve, who cheeks had now flushed red with embarrassment and shame again. "Steve got a little… _overzealous _this morning when we were interrogating Miriam."

"Ah," she simply answered, nodding in understanding. "Got it. So where do we go from here?"

"Wait," Chin answered, shrugging his shoulders. "We've done everything we can for now; we just have to wait to see what comes from it."

"Let's call it a day, then," Steve suggested. "Do you guys want to come round for steaks later?"

"Wish I could, Steve, but I've got to pick up Grace from a friend's later," Danny declined. "Actually, I've got to take her round there soon. And I've got to run some errands, as well," he added when Steve tried to interrupt. "So I can't do it in between."

Steve sighed in disappointment, but almost instantly perked up with another idea. "We'll have a big cookout instead when we arrest Joseph and close this case. As a celebration."

The others nodded approval of the notion. "Sounds good," they all agreed.

"See you guys tomorrow." Danny left HQ and headed down to the car park. As he got into the Camaro and drove away from the Hale, he failed to notice the van, idling by the side of the road, that started to follow him.

* * *

As Danny entered the living room, he expected to find Grace waiting for him, ready to go. What he didn't expect to find was the smell of smoke and the fire alarm bleeping. Alarm spreading through his system, Danny rushed into the kitchen and found Grace flapping a tea towel at the oven, which was the source of the smoke.

"GRACE!" he yelled over the incessant beeping.

The preteen girl whipped round and froze when she saw her dad standing there. "I… I…" she stuttered, at a loss for words.

Rushing past her, Danny twisted the latch on the window and flung it open, before grabbing the broom by the back door and striding back out of the living room. He used the end of the handle to press the button on the alarm to stop the loud beeping. Once everything had calmed down, Danny turned to look at Grace. The eleven-year-old girl had an extremely guilty expression on her face and looked almost as if she would wither under her father's gaze.

"Grace… what the hell happened?" Danny asked slowly.

Wordlessly, Grace glanced back at the oven, where small tendrils of smoke were floating out through the open window. "I-I was… trying to…"

Grabbing the tea towel from her hands, Danny extracted the tray from one of the shelves and examined the remains. What looked like tin foil sat on the tray and lumps of brown stuff on top of that. Both were rather well done.

"You were trying to make brownies?" Danny asked, and Grace nodded. Shaking his head, Danny set the tray down on top of the cooker. "Grace, I told you we'd get some brownies when I took you over to Becky's."

"I know, but I really wanted to make them; I mean, I promised," she replied, sounding close to tears. "It was going to be my birthday treat for her."

"I know, Grace, but it's not the end of the world," he tried to reassure her. She just shrugged a shoulder in response, still looking downcast. "Come on; get your stuff and I'll take you round."

"Okay," she murmured, and slunk past him to her room, returning a couple of minutes. "I'm ready."

Danny gave her a small smile in an attempt to make her feel better as they left the house. "And Grace? Next time you want to make brownies, let me know so I can help you with them," he told her as he locked the door.

"But Danno, I could have done them myself!" Grace protested. "And besides, if I had asked, you wouldn't have done it. You're at work all the time and there's never any time."

Danny admitted to himself that, since they'd gotten the case, he had obsessed over it even after leaving HQ. A whole month of trying to track down a religiously-obsessed killer with next to no leads was driving them all to distraction.

"And you don't trust me to use the oven by myself, either," Grace continued her voice starting to rise.

"Grace," Danny warned, giving her a very pointed look.

"I'm almost a teenager, but you still treat me like I'm a kid! It's not fair!"

Danny's temper finally snapped. "Grace! That's enough!" he yelled, the emotion of the day finally catching up to him. "Do not speak to me in that tone of voice! You follow whatever rules I lay out for you and you don't throw a tantrum about it!"

Suddenly realising what she'd done, Grace looked down ashamedly. "I'm sorry, Danno," she muttered.

Taking in a deep breath, Danny shook his head. "Just get in the car.

* * *

Alex Joseph watched from his van as Detective Williams drove away. He saw the devil in him; the temptations he had given into. He scowled at the flashy sports car as it disappeared down the street. And the little girl with him was at risk of being fed lies and falsehoods. But she would be free from his lies soon. He would make sure of that.

As soon as he was sure that they were far enough away, Joseph got out of his van and hurriedly crossed the road. He had to be ready; he couldn't mess this up. If he didn't do this right, then he would be damned for failing.

Joseph discreetly glanced around the street when he reached Williams' front door. Certain that no-one could see him; he withdrew two small drain rods from his pocket and inserted them into the lock. Carefully moving them back and forth, Joseph smiled to himself when he heard the lock click. Placing the rods back in his pocket, he straightened up and twisted the doorknob, smiling even more as he made his way inside.

Alex had to admit it was a nice home, but looks could be deceiving; the sinner was probably biding his time until the time was right.

* * *

Danny growled in annoyance as he pulled into his driveway again later that afternoon. Never had he had such a crap afternoon. He'd been angry at Grace, both for the mess in the kitchen and her outburst, but after he had dropped her off at her friend's house, his anger had turned to himself for getting so worked up about it. His bad mood was not helped by the fact that he'd been unable to buy a birthstone bracelet for his mother's upcoming birthday – which he had reserved, even – because some bone-headed employee had sold it to someone else, and they were now out of stock of that particular bracelet. Danny had been forced to go to every jewellery shop he knew of in Honolulu, before he'd found another one almost three hours later. And he still had to clean the oven.

Needless to say, Danny was in a foul mood. It was times like this that he wished he were back in New Jersey; nothing had ever been this much of a hassle when he'd still been living there. In his old neighbourhood, everyone knew everyone and favours were passed around like currency. If you had a problem, it could always be fixed quick and easily.

Danny froze, all thoughts of New Jersey leaving his mind, when he slid his key into the lock. He knew – he absolutely knew – that he had locked his front door when he had left earlier. He was a cop, for God's sake; he would never leave it unlocked. And yet it was unlocked.

Slowly, Danny withdrew his key from the lock and unclipped his holster, drawing his gun. He turned the doorknob as quietly as possible, not wanting to alert whoever was here that he had returned, and entered the living room, sweeping a quick glance around the small room, but saw no-one. A quiet thud reached Danny's ears from the kitchen, and, stepping as quietly as he could, jumped through the doorway. But as he did, he saw no-one.

Danny narrowed his eyes as he stepped further into the room. As far as he could tell, nothing was missing from in here. All his knives were still in the block, which he took to mean that the intruder was prepared. Heading back into the living room, Danny took his phone from his pocket, intending to call Steve.

In the hours to come, Danny would curse himself for letting his guard down.

A sound from behind him had Danny whirling around, dropping his phone in the process, but before he could get his gun up again, something heavy and solid slammed into the side of head, throwing him to the ground. Pain erupted in Danny's skull and he lay there, dazed. Pushing past the pain, Danny turned his head and looked up at his attacker, and dread rushed through his veins when he recognised Alex Joseph standing above him.

**I know, I know! I'm evil! Don't hurt me! If you hurt me, you don't find what happens next! I admit, I struggled with this chapter. Grace is always a sweet, so it was hard to write her having a tantrum. I hope I got it right, though. Please, leave reviews and let me know what you think x**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi, guys. Wow, that was a great response to the last chapter. Thankfully, no-one's killed me yet for my evilness, but there's still time...  
****I hope this chapter lives up to all your expectations again. I have to say first, though, this is where we get a deeper look inside Joseph's mind, and there are some references to Christianity. I don['t mean to offend anyone, but if you do take offence to anything I've put in this chapter, I'm sorry. But I hope you all enjoy :)**

Steve gazed out at the waves from the lanai, a cold beer bottle in his hand. He hadn't felt this relaxed in weeks; the case had had them all too wound up. Taking a deep breath, Steve leaned his head back and closed his eyes, a small smile on his face. It felt good to be able to just unwind for a while.

Life didn't seem to agree, though. The sound of his phone ringing had Steve scowling as he pulled the offending object from his pocket. His irritation disappeared, however, when he recognised Grace's number on the caller ID.

"Hey, Gracie," he answered. "Are you all right?"

"_Uncle Steve… do you know where Danno is?" _Grace's worried voice came through the speaker.

"Not since this afternoon when he went to take you round to your friend's house," Steve replied.

"_He was supposed to pick me up fifteen minutes ago. I tried calling him three times already, but it keeps going straight to voicemail."_

Steve was already up and moving. "Grace, I'm going to head round to your house and make sure your dad's okay."

"_Okay, Uncle Steve."_

Steve's heart clenched at the anxiety in Grace's voice. "Grace, don't worry. Danno's really tired; he might be sleeping." _Call bullshit on your own bullshit, _Steve thought to himself. "I'm going to go make sure, okay?"

"_I think he's avoiding me."_

Grace's quiet words had Steve coming to an abrupt stop. "What? No, your dad would never do that, Grace; you know he loves you like crazy."

"_Yeah, but… I was really mean earlier," _she admitted. _"Danno was really angry with me, and now he's not answering his phone…"_

"Grace, he's not avoiding your calls."

"_Then why isn't he answering his phone?" _Grace pressed.

_I don't know, Grace. _"Listen, Grace, I'm going to get Auntie Kono to come pick you up," he said, grabbing his keys to his truck from the living room coffee table. "I'll call you later, alright?"

"_Okay. Bye, Uncle Steve."_

Steve hung up with Danny's daughter and sent a quick text to Kono, before flinging his phone down on the passenger seat once he was in his truck. Flipping on the sirens, Steve sped through the traffic. If Danny were here, he would be yelling at him for misusing police equipment, Steve thought with a wry smile. But he wasn't, and Danny would never miss Grace's calls, nor forget to pick her up, unless there was a good reason.

Making it to Danny's street in record time, Steve skidded to a stop in front of his partner's house. The presence of the Camaro in the driveway served to settle Steve's nerves slightly; the fact that he had made it home dispelled the thought that Danny had had an accident somewhere. But even as the thought crossed his mind, Steve's worry remained. Something was seriously wrong.

"Danny!" Steve pounded on the front door. "Danny, it's me! Open up!" When he received no response, Steve tested the doorknob, and drew his gun when the door swung open. "Danny?" he called out again.

As he stepped into the living room, the first thing that caught Steve's eye was Danny's phone lying on the floor. The screen was badly cracked, but it still lit up when Steve activated it, showing three missed calls from Grace.

"Where are you, Danny?" Steve murmured anxiously. Taking his own phone from his pocket, Steve dialed Chin. "Danny's missing."

* * *

When Danny came to, the first thing that registered in his mind was pain. Waves of pain rolled through his skull with every beat of his heart, and he could feel congealed blood on the side of his head, plastering his hair to his face. When Danny tried to open his eyes, the pain in his head spiked and he felt bile rise in his throat. Screwing his eyes shut again, Danny waiting for the nausea to go away before he tried opening them again. Once he was certain he wasn't going to be sick, he opened his eyes again.

He was in a stone basement; the cold from the stone seeped through his clothes. Danny tried to push himself upright, but his hands caught on something. Looking up, he realised his own handcuffs had been used to secure his wrists to a table leg. Danny tucked his thumbs in, but no matter he manoeuvred his hands or how hard he tried, he couldn't get his hands through the metal bracelets. All he succeeded in doing was making his wrists hurt.

Danny stopped when he heard the basement door open. Alex Joseph slowly came down the stairs, a duffel bag held in one hand, and stood over Danny, watching him appraisingly. Danny stared back at him, keeping his gaze blank, not giving anything away. After a moment, Joseph turned away from him and walked towards another table pushed against the opposite wall of the basement.

Unable to keep quiet any longer, Danny opened his mouth. "Hey," he croaked, and scowled at how weak his voice sounded. "Hey," he tried again. Joseph glanced over his shoulder at Danny, but then went back to ignoring him. "You know, my team's going to be looking for me already. And when they find me, they're going to come down hard on you."

Joseph snorted in derision and turned around. "Let them try."

"I wouldn't underestimate my partner, if I were you," Danny warned him with a slight smile. "He's a Navy SEAL, and an insane one at that. I've seen him do all sorts before, and I'm pretty sure I haven't yet seen all that he's got."

Joseph's lips twisted in a scowl as he stared at Danny. "You think your co-conspirators will be able to stop me? When I have the Lord on my side? I'd say that that is laughable, but I wouldn't waste my breath on you," he sneered as he turned back to the table.

"Joseph, you are making a huge mistake," Danny tried to reason with him. "This is all going to backfire on you, and you will be sent down for murder. Where will God be then?"

"He will be right there beside me," Joseph smiled. "I have not abandoned him in my mission, and he will not abandon me now."

Danny stared at him sceptically. "Mission? What mission?"

"The Lord has commanded me to remove all the sin from this world, and make it a safer place. Being his faithful servant, I gladly took that task upon myself."

"Good God, you are actually insane." The words were out of Danny's mouth before he could stop them.

A swift kick to his stomach had Danny trying to curl into the foetal position, gasping for breath. He had to fight down the urge to vomit as the pain in his head returned ten-fold. He barely heard Joseph over the blood rushing in his ears.

"How dare you take the Lord's name in vain?" Joseph snarled. "Filthy sinner!"

Danny heaved in a ragged breath. "You… You've killed… innocent people," he panted, and bit back a groan as the pain flared up again. When he opened his eyes again, Joseph had moved to the other side of the basement. With some alarm, Danny noticed he now had a scalpel in his hand.

"No, I am killing you and all of your depraved kind," he countered. "I am making the world safe by taking the sin out. Making it safe for children; they can grow up no longer living in fear."

"Children grow up in fear because of psychopaths like you!" Danny snapped. "And I assuage their fears because I take people like you off the streets!"

"But I have purpose. I am meant to free people from sinners!" Joseph raised his arms as if he were addressing an audience. "I am their saviour! Their Messiah! A modern-day Jesus!"

Danny realised the man was truly lost in delusion; he believed too much in it that he couldn't be reasoned with, and had outbursts of anger when challenged. He would still try, though. He had to stall for as long as possible to give the team time. He knew they would already be looking for him.

"I've got a daughter, you know."

"I do know," Joseph nodded. "I saw her."

"She's the light of my life, and I would do anything to protect her," he continued, ignoring the killer's snort. "You felt the same about your sister, right, when you were kids? Growing up with your father?"

Joseph froze and glared at Danny. "What did you say?" he choked out.

"Your father, he was abusive, wasn't he?" Danny pressed, knowing full well he was pissing off the man. "He'd beat you and your sister, and your mom, as well?"

"Shut up," Joseph hissed angrily. "You know nothing."

"I know you wanted to protect your sister, especially after your mother died." Danny had anticipated an outburst of rage, but what he hadn't anticipated was Joseph's boot coming towards his face. The toe of his boot struck the corner of his mouth, and instantly, the taste of blood filled Danny's mouth. He gagged on the coppery-tasting fluid as it ran down his throat, and spat some of it out onto the concrete floor.

Joseph panted heavily, as if he had just run a marathon. "You know nothing," he repeated.

Danny ran his tongue over his lower lip, feeling where the split was already starting to swell. "Not very becoming of a servant of God, really. Getting all angry like that."

A low growl escaped Joseph's throat as he glared daggers at Danny. He stepped a couple of feet away and paced back and forth. "I trust in you, Lord; I say "You are my God"," he muttered. "My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me. Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. Let me not be put to shame, Lord, for I have cried to you!" Glancing down at his blade, Joseph strode back to over to Danny. Kneeling down, he straddled the detective and grabbed his arm, and slit the seam on the shirt sleeve. He then ripped the sleeve in two and pulled it off of Danny's arm, before shoving the length of cloth into his mouth and tied it behind his head.

Danny instinctively tried to push the gag out of his mouth with his tongue, but Joseph had tied it tightly enough that it wouldn't budge.

"But let the wicked be put to shame be silent in the realm of the dead. Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt, they speak arrogantly against the righteous!" Joseph pressed the blade of the scalpel into Danny's neck, but before he could make a single cut, the detective bucked his legs, trying to throw him off. Grabbing a handful of his hair, Joseph slammed Danny's head into the floor and held him there, and pressed the blade into his neck again, and started carving.

* * *

Steve paced Danny's living room as the CSU team worked to gather evidence. As soon as he'd spoken to Chin, he'd called Kono and ordered her not to bring Grace back there. She already knew something was wrong, but Steve wasn't going to tell her that her father had been kidnapped by a psychotic serial killed.

Steve was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't see Chin approaching until the older man was right next to him.

"How did we not see this coming, Chin?" he growled. "It's Joseph; it has to be! It can't be a coincidence that we start to close in on him, and then Danny goes missing! That's not a coincidence!"

"I'm not arguing with you, brah," Chin said quietly.

All of Steve's anger seemed to suddenly disappear, and the intimidating Navy SEAL persona was replaced by that of an extremely worried friend. "What am I supposed to say to Grace if…?"

"Don't go there, Steve," Chin warned, placing his hands on Steve's shoulders. "Don't automatically assume that Danny's dead."

"I know I shouldn't, but… everything Joseph's done…" Steve shook his head, unable to finish the sentence.

"I know. But we will get him back."

"Commander, Lieutenant!" one of the CSU techs called. "I think you'll want to see this." They approached the tech crouched by the front door. "There are tool marks on this."

"The bastard picked the lock," Steve growled. "I am so getting Danny a proper security system when we find him."

Chin smiled wryly at Steve's comment; the debate between the partners about that would be interesting, to say the least. "Let's get back to HQ; we need to talk to Miriam."

***Ducking books and shoes thrown at me* Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm evil. My best friends have already pointed that out several times already. Plus, I've been feeling a bit crappy the last couple of days, and I couldn't help it! But you can't kill me, otherwise you don't find out what's gonna happen! Vent in the reviews! I'll get the next chapter up soon, promise x**


	14. Chapter 14

**Is it safe to come back yet? I'm sorry for leaving you all on such a horrible cliffhanger, but I had to! I couldn't resist! As a peace offering, here's the next chapter. :)**

"Okay, Miriam," Steve growled, storming into the cell. "I am done playing games. You are going to tell us what we want to know, and you are going to tell us now. Where else might your brother go?"

Miriam stared up at him in fear. "I don't… I-"

"Don't tell me, you don't know," Steve snapped, looming over her. "You do know, dammit!"

"Steve." Chin gripped his boss's forearm in a silent warning. "Miriam, your brother's taken our friend," he explained in a calmer voice. "Now, we know Alex forced you to help him in three of the murders. Where did he take you when he killed Richard Harrington and Laura Henderson?"

"I-I never saw… where it was," she murmured. "He thought I would run away and tell the police if I knew where it was. He made me sit in the back of his van."

"Okay, well, can you think of anything that could help us identify where that was?" Chin pressed. "Smells, sounds?" He bit back a sigh of frustration when Miriam shook her head. "What about this? Alex would go somewhere familiar; somewhere safe. Somewhere significant. Does that help?"

Miriam thought for a moment and shook her head vigorously. "No!" she exclaimed. "I'm trying to think, but I can't!"

"Come on, Miriam, try harder!" Steve urged. "My partner's life is on the line here! He's got a daughter! Think!"

"I don't know!" she retorted angrily, throwing her hands up in despair, the handcuffs rattling noisily. "And yelling at me isn't going to make me remember! Ali didn't trust me enough to tell me where we were going. All I can tell you is that it wasn't near a main road; I'd lose the sound of the traffic by the time we got there."

"That means it's fairly remote," Chin commented to Steve before turning back to Miriam. "Where did your brother pick you up from? Would it be your apartment or somewhere else?"

"Ali always picked me up at my apartment," Miriam replied, frowning slightly in question. "Why?"

"How long would you be driving for?" the older Hawaiian asked.

"Twenty, twenty-five minutes, maybe?"

"How long before you lost the sound of the traffic?"

"Fifteen minutes in or thereabouts."

Steve's eyes widened as he realised what Chin was doing. Stepping forwards, he removed his handcuff key from his pocket and unlocked the cuffs from around the young woman's wrists. "Come on. You're coming back into our custody."

"What for? What am I going to be doing?"

"You're going to make us a map."

* * *

Danny was in a world of pain; he didn't think he'd ever hurt more, not even when he'd torn his ACL. His head pounded, and with every beat of his heart, a wave of agony would roll through his skull. His mouth was almost painfully dry from the gag, which stretched his lips and pulled the split in the soft tissue wide. His wrists had been rubbed raw by the handcuffs, fastened uncomfortably tight around his wrists. The left side of his face, swollen and discoloured from when Joseph kicked him, had been throbbing incessantly since he'd been left alone.

He trembled as a shiver ran through his body, and he winced at the pain even that small movement caused. He had never thought it would be possible to feel cold in a state where the average temperature was 80˚F, but the stone floor seemed to have leached all the heat from his body. The only positive he could come up with from his current situation was that the floor was soothing against his bruised jaw.

Turning his head slightly to press his jaw against the stone, Danny winced as the slashes on his neck prickled with pain. He felt something warm trickle down his throat, and he realised the lacerations had started bleeding again. Danny had tried to block out the pain and tried not to think about the mark on his neck, but he couldn't manage for long. His thoughts just kept circling back to it. When he did think about, a cold fear would envelope him.

The realisation that he had been branded. Marked as the next on Joseph's list of victims. Victim number 5.

Danny had always managed to evade death; as he had put it before, he was living on "borrowed time". But he seriously doubted that he could get out of this situation. Maybe Death had decided that enough was enough, and it was time to collect.

This was not the way Danny had envisioned his life ending; he'd always hoped to live until he was old, possibly with the team, surrounded by Grace and her kids.

_Grace. _Tears burned at the corners of Danny's eyes as he thought about his daughter. What would happen if he died? There would be so much that he'd miss out on: her growing up, going off to university, getting married, having kids…

When he had dropped her off at her friend's house earlier today, she had been angry. They both had. Danny didn't want to die with Grace angry at him, or thinking that he was angry at her. Danny wanted to be able to tell her, one last time, the words "Danno loves you."

_You are going to be able to tell her again, Danno. _Danny flinched slightly, then rolled his eyes as he heard Steve's voice. Great, it wasn't enough that he was going to be carved by a religious whackjob; he had to hallucinate about his partner as well? And how the hell was he even hallucinating? Danny's thoughts started to race as he started to panic that something was horribly wrong.

_Danny, calm down. You're in shock, _his partner's voice reassured him. _You're not dying. Slow your breathing._

Taking a deep breath in through his nose, Danny managed to bring his breathing back down slightly, but his heart was still racing. It had been since he had woken in this stone hellhole. _"Steve, please, hurry," _he silently begged his partner. Hearing nothing, Danny assumed the hallucination had gone away, and closed his eyes against the burning tears in his eyes. And then, quietly…

_We're coming, Danno._

**I know that that's shorter than the last chapter, but I hope it was satisfying enough. I didn't kill Danny; he's still alive and kicking. And Steve and co are on their way to find him. Is that enough for you to go back on your threats of violence? I'm still going back into hiding anyway...**


	15. Chapter 15

**I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I know I said I would update quickly, but real life decided to throw a spanner in the works; I've been swamped with school work, dancing, working at the hospital and doctor/hospital appointments. So please don't be mad at me. Okay, be mad, but don't kill me.**

**I am in France right now, for French Exchange; I am staying with my exchange partner. Tomorrow, we're going to Switzerland! I tried to finish this chapter before I left, but obviously, that didn't happen. So I am typing his on my phone, so please forgive any mistakes in this chapter. I made it extra long, by the way, as a way of saying sorry. So enjoy :-)**

"I still don't understand," Miriam repeated as she followed Steve and Chin into HQ. "How am I goingto help? I told you, I never saw the route."

"Miriam, the human mind is a complex thing," Chin replied. "In any given situation, you can think that you see very little, when, in fact, you see a lot."

Miriam looked between him and Steve, a lost expression on her face. "I'm still confused…"

"There's an interview technique called a cognitive interview. The FBI uses it a lot when talking to victims or witnesses," Steve explained. "It incorporates all your senses, rather than just your sight. You say what you heard, or what you smelled. So that's what we're going to try and do."

"We want you to go through the journey again. Think about how many turns you felt; what you could hear while you were driving; what you could smell," Chin instructed as he brought up a map of the island.

"Okay, I'll try," she nodded.

Steve moved around the computer table and stopped in front of her. "I want you to close your eyes, Miriam. Imagine you're in the van again, and Alex has just picked you up. Take us through the journey."

Miriam blew out a shaky breath before starting, "We turn left first, and drive towards the Pali Highway. It's close to my street and I can already hear the sound of the traffic."

Chin traced a line with his finger towards the highway. "Do you go onto the highway, or do you pass it?"

"We turn right and go onto the highway."

"Okay. What do you hear on the highway?" Steve asked. "What do you pass?"

"I… hear water in the distance, and…" Miriam's brow creased in concentration. "A farm?"

"A ranch," Chin corrected. "Kaneohe Ranch; it's right next to the Pali Highway."

"We turn left when I hear the horses," she continued.

"There's a left turn onto Kamehameha Highway," Chin confirmed.

"Okay, where do you go from there, Miriam?" Steve pressed.

"I think we turn right again," Miriam guessed. "But- But I'm not sure…"

"That takes us onto John Burns Freeway. It comes out on G Street."

"You turn right onto the freeway, Miriam, and you go on to G Street," Steve guided her through the journey. "Where do you go from there?"

Several seconds of silence followed as Miriam thought. "I… I…" she stuttered. "Oh, I don't know!" she exclaimed. She knotted her fingers in her hair and screwed her eyes shut against the tears of frustration.

"Miriam, it's all right; don't get worked up," Chin reassured her. "You've helped lots. We've narrowed down where your brother could be."

Miriam sucked in a deep breath through her nose, and nodded, but she didn't look convinced. "I wish I could help more."

"You might be able to," came a voice from behind them. The trio turned around to see Kono striding towards them, clearly with a purpose.

"Kono, what are you doing here? Where's Grace?" Steve demanded.

"She's with my mother," the young Hawaiian officer replied. "She'd already figured out that something was going on and she wanted me to come help you guys. I did some research before I came in, though." Reaching the computer table, Kono reached into her bag and pulled out her laptop, setting it down on the surface. "Charlie managed to hook me up to Five-0's databases and I pulled some more of Alex's records. Check this out." Swiping her hand across the surface of the table, Kono brought a document up onto the screen. "According to this, Alex inherited his father's house a little over a month ago after David Joseph died."

"Just before Joseph's first victim was found," Chin recalled.

Steve glared at Miriam. "Why didn't you think to tell us that your father had died and your brother had inherited his house?" he barked, his hand curling into a fist atop the computer table.

Miriam's expression was one of shock. "I-I didn't…" she murmured, shaking her head. "I didn't even know he'd died."

"I'm confused. How could you not know that your father had died?" Kono queried.

"I never see him. As soon as I was old enough, I got out of that house and never looked back," she explained. "I never spoke to him or saw him; as far as I was concerned, he was dead to me."

The team were surprised by the mild-mannered woman's ferocious words. "If you don't mind my asking," Kono started cautiously. "What exactly happened between you and your father?"

"Where do I even begin?" she snorted. "He was a violent drunk; he beat me and Ali. When he wasn't using me as a punching bag, he would ignore me. Do you know how much it hurts to have your own father look through you as if you aren't even there? Or to tell you that you weren't wanted? He made sure I knew that I was an accident; every single day of my life, he told me. He made my life a misery," Miriam finished in a whisper, eyes now brimming with tears.

"Miriam, we need that address," Chin stated, an undertone of begging in his quiet voice.

Glancing at each of them in turn, Miriam hesitated in answering. "Commander, I may have hated my father, but my brother... He's all that I have left..."

A low growl escaping his throat, Steve strode around the computer table and stepped toe-to-toe with Miriam, towering over the shaking young woman. "Your brother has taken my partner; a good, honest man, with a 12-year-old daughter. If you let him die, I will hold you personally responsible. Now tell us that address."

* * *

At this moment in time, Danny could safely say, without any hesitation, that he had never felt worse in his life. The initial all-encompassing pain he'd felt from his beating earlier had died down to a milder level, but the headache and nausea were still present; just to a lesser degree.

A violent shiver wracked his body, making him feel even worse. He was freezing by now, the stone floor having sapped any heat from his body. Swallowing instinctively against the nausea, Danny regretted it almost immediately as it provoked a cough from his parched throat. Suddenly, he found that he couldn't stop coughing, nor could he breathe. The gag prevented him from inhaling through his mouth, so he was forced to suck in lungfuls of air through his nostrils, but it didn't feel like it was enough.

Acrid bile burned the back of his throat as what little he had in his stomach threatened to come up. Danny knew that if he did throw up, he would be screwed; he would end up choking on his own vomit. Not the way he wanted to go, either.

Shifting slightly, Danny winced at the sharp pain down his arms, especially at his wrists. All he felt in his hands now was a painful tingling; the handcuffs had cut off nearly all the circulation in the appendages, cutting excruciatingly into the tender skin around his wrists. He knew it would be nasty when those cuffs finally came off.

The door to the basement opened, drawing Danny from his thoughts, and Alex Joseph came down the steps. Without even a glance at Danny, he crossed the room, moving towards his bag that he had left down here earlier. Danny watched him without making a sound; having seen and experienced already first-hand what the psychopath was capable of, he wasn't going to provoke him again.

After a minute or so, Joseph finally turned towards Danny, disgust clearly visible in his features, as if even looking at the detective was offensive to him. Striding across the basement, he knelt down next to Danny and roughly pulled the gag from his mouth, ignoring the blond's pained winces.

Danny swallowed heavily in a feeble attempt to get some moisture back into his mouth. "What…?" he croaked, his voice cracking. His mouth was bone dry, making talking almost impossible. "What's your plan now? What are you going to do?"

"I would very happily and willingly kill you right here and right now, but the Lord is more forgiving than I. If you confess your sins and repent, He will give you a merciful death."

Danny was shaking his head even before Joseph finished. "I do not repent, because I have nothing to repent for!" the detective snapped. "I am no guiltier than Laura Henderson or Chris Lawrence. Hell, Chris Lawrence is just a kid! How do you justify that?"

"He is a sinner!" Joseph shrieked, quickly becoming angered again. "He is contemptuous as you are, and as you have turned down your opportunity to confess, you leave me no choice." Marching back towards the duffle bag, Joseph produced a hacksaw with a razor-sharp blade.

* * *

Steve had the accelerator pedal pressed almost to the floor, hands clenching the steering wheel. He weaved expertly through the traffic, sirens blaring and lights flashing. Kono was following behind in her own car, along with several HPD squad cars.

"Chin, how much farther?" he yelled, never taking his eyes off the road.

The older Hawaiian cop had his iPad in his hands, following the route Miriam had given them. "We're two miles away. Make a left here."

Steve nodded, following his friend's directions, and pushed the pedal down even further. There was no way that he was going to lose Danny.

* * *

Danny's blood ran cold as he saw the length and number of teeth on the blade. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Just hold on a minute!" he babbled, straining against the handcuffs. The surge of adrenaline allowed him to ignore the renewed pain in his wrists.

"No! I have to carry out God's will!" Joseph replied, coming closer.

Fear enveloped Danny as he realised that his chances of getting out of this alive were rapidly declining. When Alex Joseph was close enough, Danny lashed out with his foot, catching him in the knee. "Stay the fuck away from me!" he yelled.

A choked cry of pain erupted from Joseph's throat as he dropped to one knee. His lips twisted into an enraged snarl and an animalistic roar of anger tore from his throat as he raised the hacksaw above his head. Danny covered his head and neck as best as he could in his restrained situation as Joseph brought the saw down, an agonised scream tearing from his throat as he felt the blade cut through his flesh.

Blood immediately spurted from the deep gash to his upper arm, soaking Danny's wrecked shirt in a matter of seconds. Pain encompassed his entire being, radiating out in waves; his muscles went taut and he gritted his teeth against another scream of pain. Danny's stomach contracted, and this time, he did throw up; the acidic bile forced its way up his throat and out of his mouth. Spluttering at the horrid taste, Danny almost sobbed; he was in so much pain. Vaguely over the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears, Danny heard Joseph shouting again.

"Satanic scum! You will burn in hell! Dismembered and flogged for all eternity!" he screeched, a demented look in his eyes. "I shall see to it that you suffer fully in hell!"

* * *

Stamping on the brakes, Steve leapt out of the truck cab before it had even fully come to a stop. "Chin, you take the back!" he snapped. "Kono, with me! Someone make sure there's an ambulance on standby!"

Steve moved swiftly towards the front door, Kono following behind with another police officer, while Chin headed around the property, flanked by two more officers.

Checking his Heckler and Koch weapon once more, Steve glanced over to Kono. "You ready?" he murmured.

Kono nodded once. "Let's do this."

Reaching out a hand, Steve tested the doorknob, turning it as quietly as was possible. He pushed the door back and silently move through the entryway, Kono following directly behind him. Sweeping the hallway with a quick glance, Steve saw no sign of either Danny nor Alex Joseph, and starting inching slowly down the hallway.

"Where the hell are they?" he whispered, barely glancing back at Kono as he spoke.

Chin appeared at the end of the hallway. "Steve, I think there's a basement here," he said.

"Miriam said nothing about a basement," the former SEAL countered. "What makes you think there's one now?"

"There's a vent in the outside wall, level with the ground," Chin explained. "And I could hear Danny's voice."

A sudden scream startled all of them, a thrill of fear running through their veins. "That sounded like Danny," Kono realised, her voice quavering.

"Where is that basement, then?" Steve snapped.

Chin ran a hand flat across the wall, until he felt a small niche. Digging his fingers in, he managed to pull back a concealed door, revealing a staircase leading down below the floor. "Found it," he muttered.

Stepping forward, Steve began to descend the steps. He could clearly hear Joseph's deranged screams now, but his gut twisted as he also heard Danny's own pain-filled voice. Steve stopped about halfway down the steps and crouched down, studying the basement.

Alex Joseph was stood in the middle of the stone room, hysterically screeching again. Steve didn't miss the hacksaw in his hand.

"You will burn in hell! Dismembered and flogged for all eternity!"

A hot knife twisted in Steve's heart when he saw Danny lying on the floor, handcuffed to the table leg. He sucked in a sharp breath, horrified at his partner's state; the left side of his face had swollen up quite a lot and had turned a deep shade of purple now. What horrified Steve the most, however, was the sheer volume of blood on Danny's body; dried trails from a split lip and just above his ear, as well as from the deep cut to his upper arm, which was still gushing blood at an alarming rate.

"Boss?" Kono asked worried lying when she heard his inhalation.

He turned slightly to face her and Chin. "Kono, go back up; make sure there's an ambulance ready to treat Danny and get him to a hospital."

Kono nodded and hastily made her way back up the steps, disappearing from sight.

"I shall see to it that you suffer fully in hell!"

"Chin, now!" Steve yelled, surging forwards. He leapt down the rest of the staircase, bringing his weapon up to point directly at Joseph's heart.

"Freeze! Five-0!"

As Steve and Chin came down, Joseph sprang behind Danny, crouching by the detective. Danny whimpered as Joseph grabbed a fistful of hair and held the saw against his throat.

"Get out!" Joseph screamed. "You can't be here!" His hands were quavering slightly, and Steve worried that Danny would get hurt further.

"Let Danny go, put the saw down and place your hands behind your head," Chin ordered, his voice deceptively calm; on the inside, he was anything but calm.

"No! I must carry out God's will!"

"No, you don't," Chin countered. "God hasn't ordered you to do this; nobody has ordered you to do this."

"I need to finish it." A drop of blood trailed down Danny's throat from where one of the teeth had nicked the skin.

"The only way this is going to finish is with you in either handcuffs or a body bag," Steve yelled. "Now let him go."

"Alex, think about Miriam," Chin opted for a different tactic. "Your sister, whom you've tried to protect since you were children. What do you think this is doing to her?"

Joseph's face softened slightly when Chin mentioned Miriam, and for a fleeting moment, both Steve and Chin thought that maybe he would surrender. But even as the thought crossed their minds, his expression hardened again.

"I will not stop."

Without hesitation, Steve squeezed his trigger, and shot Joseph in the shoulder, sending him to the ground. As Chin moved to handcuff him, Steve sprinted to Danny, dropping to his knees at his partner's side. He hesitated in touching him for a moment; there were so any injuries, he didn't know what to do first.

Danny looked up at him through half-lidded eyes. "St-St've..." he stuttered.

Steve did all he could do at that moment; he gently curled his hand around the back of Danny's neck, and stared directly in his eyes. "I'm here, Danny. I'm going to get you out of here."

**There we go; I saved Danny! Are we happy now? Of course, he wasn't going to escape without a little bit of whump. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but I've got all of Easter to write it and post it. Oh, and for those of you who read Ho'omalu, a second chapter is planned. Anyway, reviews are greatly appreciated. Good night, for now.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi! I'm back on schedule now. I know I said I would be able to update more regularly over Easter, but sadly, that is not true; AS's are coming up, so I will be swamped with revision and whatnot. So I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, I'm afraid. There, I'm giving you all notice!  
****Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter, and also for Ho'omalu; everyone has been asking for a second chapter for that, so I will do one when I can. For now, enjoy this chapter :)**

Steve dug in his pockets and pulled out a handcuff key. "I'm going to take the handcuffs off, Danno."

"No! He has to die!" Joseph shouted as Chin hauled him to his feet. He grunted in pain as his injured shoulder was jostled. "He is a sinner!"

"Chin, get him out of here!" Steve yelled, barely even sparing the killer a glance, and turned back to his partner. "It's going to hurt when these come off," he warned.

Danny was barely conscious now, but he managed a weak nod. "Just… Jus' do it."

Steve nodded and unlocked the cuffs, and carefully pulled the metal from the abused skin, wincing as fresh blood oozed from the deep cuts. Once he'd taken them off, Steve gently grasped Danny's forearms and guided his arms slowly back down to his sides. Steve knew from experience that, after having your arms restrained in the same position for hours, shoulder cramps were fairly common.

Danny yelped in pain as the movement aggravated the wound on his upper arm. "Steve, stop! St-stop, please!" he cried.

His voice tore at Steve's heart, but he didn't stop. "Danny, it's okay! Just… Just breathe through the pain. Okay? Come on; in an out, in and out. Just like that."

Danny sucked in several deep, harsh-sounding breaths, gritting his teeth against the pain. After what felt like an eternity, the pain dialled back to a slightly more manageable level, and Danny no longer felt like he was going to pass out.

"-ere you go, Danny. Just keep breathing like that," he heard Steve saying. A second later, he realised his partner was gripping his shoulder, but whether that was to reassure himself or Danny, he didn't know.

Steve's heart was still racing; Danny's intense reaction to just moving his arms down to his sides had shaved another few years off of his life expectancy. "You with me now, Danno?" he asked warily.

"Yeah," he whispered unsteady, shaking slightly. "Sorry."

"No, I should've known better than to move your arm," Steve countered.

"Don't… Don't do that, Steve," Danny ordered, or at least as best as he could in his weak voice. "Don't try and… Don't…"

Steve frowned and rested a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Danny?" Confused blue eyes met his concerned hazel ones. "Hey. Don't do what?"

"What?"

Steve's concern grew as he felt Danny shivering beneath his hand. "Are you cold, Danny?"

"Yeah… 's cold…"

While it was cool down in the basement, Steve wouldn't go so far as to say that it was cold. Leaning over his partner, he pressed his fingers against Danny's carotid, and could feel a slightly irregular pulse. At the same time, he noted that Danny's face had lost what little colour remained and his breathing had turned shallow.

"Dammit, Danny," he muttered to himself. "You're going to shock." Unable to do anything, Steve settled for reassuringly rubbing Danny's uninjured arm. "Don't worry, brah; you're gonna be okay."

His head snapped up as Kono came back down, paramedics in tow as they manoeuvred a gurney down the steps with some difficulty. "Steve, how is he? Is he okay?" Kono asked worriedly, words coming out in a rush.

"He's in a bad way, Kono. He's going into shock, but I think he'll be okay," Steve reassured her, and glanced up as the paramedics set their packs down on the floor, immediately beginning treatment on Danny. A 30-something woman, dyed red hair pulled back into a neat French plait, placed an oxygen mask over Danny's nose and mouth, while her partner, a tall African American woman with close cropped hair, knelt down next to the injured detective.

"Hiya, darlin'," she greeted him in a strong Alabaman accent. "Can you tell me your name?"

"His name is Danny," Steve helpfully supplied. "He was kidnapped about four hours ago, and I think he's going into shock."

Laying the back of her hand against Danny's cold, clammy skin, the redheaded woman nodded. "Mmm, he's freezing. Harper, start an IV; just saline for now. We need to get his blood pressure back up."

"What about the wound on his arm?" Steve asked, noting Danny's pained wince as the needle was pushed through his skin.

The lead paramedic glanced briefly at it, before grabbing a large piece of gauze and handed it to Steve. "Here, hold that over it," she ordered.

Steve took the thin fabric from her and pressed it down on the gash, eliciting a yelp from Danny. "I'm sorry, Danny; I'm so sorry," he almost cried, resisting the urge to remove his hands.

"Leanne, 5mg of morphine." Harper handed the redhead a syringe, and she injected it into the detective's IV port. The drug took effect immediately, calming Danny down and dragging him down into unconsciousness.

Steve felt his hands become slick, and realised the gauze had already become saturated with blood. "I need some more gauze."

Leanne pressed several more pads into his hands. "We need to get him to the hospital now. Commander McGarrett, Officer Kalakaua, will you give us a hand?" The two Five-0 members helped the paramedics move Danny's limp body from the floor onto the gurney and then move him back up the staircase.

When Steve tried to climb into the back of the ambulance with Danny, Leanne held up her hand to forestall him. "Commander, I'm sorry, but we need room to work."

As much as Steve wanted to force his way in, he knew she was right. "Okay. What hospital are you taking him to?"

"Tripler Army Medical Centre," she replied. "Commander, we need to go! Now!"

He nodded once, and slammed the doors shut, watching as the ambulance sped away with his partner inside. With a deep sigh, he lifted his hands to run his fingers through his hair, but froze as he caught sight of them.

Blood. Danny's blood – _Danny's life_ – covered his hands, staining them a deep crimson colour. His breath stuttered as he took in the sight of them. Steve felt as if he would never be able to get if off; it would be a permanent reminder of how close he had to come to losing his best friend.

"Steve… STEVE!" He looked up sharply as Kono called his name, a worried look on her face.

"Yeah?" His voice was quiet and shaky; nothing like how he usually sounded.

"He'll be okay, Steve," she said firmly, her tone offering no argument otherwise.

Steve would never have argued otherwise, anyway; he had to believe that Danny would be fine. "Yeah. He'll be okay," he repeated, trying to reassure himself. "Let's get to the hospital."

"Give me your keys; I'm driving." Kono stood in front of him, hand outstretched. When he made no move to give up his keys, she simply raised an eyebrow at him. "You're in no state to drive, Steve. Now, give me your keys."

Steve relented and handed them over with a sigh. "Fine. Now let's go."

They climbed into Steve's truck, and set off after the ambulance. "Chin's arranging for a doctor to take a look at Joseph while he's at HPD," she informed him as they drove.

He nodded, a cold expression present on his face. "Good." _Not that he deserves it,_ he thought to himself.

As soon as they reached the hospital, Steve leapt out of the truck and strode into the ER, marching up to the front desk. The young receptionist looked up in alarm as the Lieutenant Commander leaned over towards her.

"My partner, Detective Danny Williams. He should have been brought in a few minutes ago. I want to know his condition," Steve growled.

Clearly intimidated by him, the receptionist typed Danny's name into her computer. "He, um… He's in surgery right now. Nothing else has been posted yet."

"Surgery?" Steve's voice boomed over the commotion of the ER, causing several people to turn towards him. "What for?"

"Steve, this isn't helping," Kono hissed, gripping his forearm tightly. "Someone will come out and talk to us soon."

Steve ran his fingers through his hair, gripping it almost painfully. "I need… I-I need to…"

Kono nodded, lips pressed into a thin line. "Come on; let's sit down." Following her to one of the hard plastic chairs, Steve collapsed into it with a heavy sigh, resigning himself to wait for news on his partner.

**I hope that was okay; I know it was shorter than the last chapter, but Danny's still fighting. Never fear :). As always, reviews make me happy x**


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to neglect this story for so long; real life would not tolerate me not giving it my full attention. I've just had so much going on; I've right in the middle of my AS exams, and I had my dance show last weekend with a ridiculous amount of dress rehearsals, and then I lost my memory stick with the original chapter draft on it! I've been so stressed, I actually burst a blood vessel in my eye!  
****Nevertheless, the chapter is now finished. Please don't flog me for my tardiness!**

Almost an hour passed with no word on Danny's condition. During that time, Steve stood in the bathroom, scrubbing his hands vigorously in an attempt to wash Danny's blood from his hands. As hard as he rubbed, however, his hands were still tinged a light red. After almost half an hour of holding his hands under the water, Steve conceded defeat. He dried his hands and left the bathroom, and returned to where Kono was still sitting in one of the plastic chairs.

The young woman was hunched over, thumbnail caught between her teeth as she worriedly nibbled on it. Her concern and anxiety for Danny was clearly visible on her face, and in that instant, Steve really understood just how young Kono was. When Chin had recommended his little cousin for the team, she had only been in her early twenties; far too young for something like Five-0, some thought. Kono had quickly matured during her years as a member of the team, seeing the things they did. It was easy to forget that she was still young, and, in some ways, still growing up.

Kono startled slightly as Steve sat down next to her, before looking away, almost embarrassed. "There hasn't been any word yet," she offered quietly. Steve simply nodded, not expecting there to have been. The two of them sat in silence for several minutes, neither knowing what to say, nor wanting to.

"She must be going crazy right about now," Steve mused aloud.

"What happened between them, Steve? Grace was really upset when I picked her up earlier; she barely said a word," Kono asked, frowning slightly. "I mean, I know she was worried about Danny, but…"

"I don't know the specifics, but Grace told me that she and Danny had a fight," he sighed. "When she called me this evening, she said that Danno was angry with her about something, and that she had been mean to him. Grace even thought he was avoiding her."

"How could she even think that?" Kono questioned. "Grace is Danny's entire world!"

"I don't know, Kono," Steve huffed. "Grace didn't say anything other than that, but I know it won't be a big thing; Danny loves her too much to stay mad for long, and Grace isn't the type to hold on to anger, either."

"I hope you're right."

_Me, too, _Steve thought to himself.

"Commander McGarrett?" a new voice rang out through the ER. Steve looked around to see a young female doctor striding towards them. "My name's Doctor Gant; Detective Williams was placed in my care when he was brought in."

"How is he?" Steve asked, he and Kono pushing themselves to their feet.

"He's coming out of surgery now," she informed him with a smile. "I'm sure you were told that he was taken into the OR?"

"Yes, we were," Steve nodded. "Why did Danny need surgery, though? I didn't think he had any internal injuries."

"No, Detective–"

"Danny," Kono corrected, cutting the doctor off.

Doctor Gant nodded and continued, "_Danny _didn't have any internal injuries, but the wound to his arm was quite severe; it extended through the dermis and subcutaneous layers of skin. It was barely an inch away from his humerus, in fact, it went so deep. Several blood vessels were nicked – fortunately, none of the major arteries that supply blood to the arm – but there was some significant blood loss. There was no way that we could treat his wound here in the ER."

Steve could tell that there was more that she needed to tell them. "Doc? What else is there?"

She hesitated before continuing, "Nerve damage is a concern at the moment. Because of the depth of the wound, we were concerned that the radial nerve had been damaged. We will conduct a proper exam later on, however, to determine whether or not there is any injury to the nerve."

This news was a shock to Steve and Kono; an injury like that could be fatal to a cop's career. "If there was…" Kono's voice was shaky as she started. "If there was nerve damage, is it likely that it would be permanent?"

"Not necessarily," the doctor replied. "We would need to determine how bad the damage is first of all, and then, depending on the amount of damage, we can work out a physiotherapy plan for Danny to regain full movement again."

Steve blew out a breath of relief and nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"We did have to give a transfusion because Danny has lost quite a bit of blood, but he should need just the one. He has a lot of bruising, as well, especially on his face. We stitched and dressed a laceration above his left ear. There was also a series of slashes on the side of neck. They looked like a–"

"A number," Steve interrupted in a strangled voice. He had suddenly gone very pale and looked aghast.

"What?" Working the case for over a month, they were all close to exhaustion, and it took Kono a second to catch up.

"That bastard branded him," Steve explained. "Danny was supposed to be victim number 5."

Kono's confusion turned to horrifying realisation, and tears sprung to her eyes. "Oh, my God…" she whispered, covering her mouth with a trembling hand.

"As I was saying before, we cleaned the cuts on his neck," Doctor Gant continued. "There is a chance of scarring, but laser therapy is an option if Danny wants to reduce it."

Steve's mind was racing. An hour ago, Danny had been beaten; now, his doctor was talking about nerve damage and potentially permanent scarring. How had things gone to hell in a hand basket so quickly? "I want to see him," he blurted out. "I want to see my partner."

Doctor Gant hesitated for a moment. "It's getting towards the end of visiting hours, but I'll make an exception for one of you for a few minutes. Just give me five minutes to make sure he has been settled in his room." She turned and left without another word.

Steve turned to look at Kono. "Why don't you take Grace back to my place? You can both stay there for the night."

The young woman raised an eyebrow at him. "In case you've forgotten, we came together in your truck. How would you get home?"

"I can get a cab back," he shrugged, despite knowing Kono wouldn't accept that.

As expected, the rookie snorted. "That's not going to happen. What's going to happen is you'll see Danny, and I'll be waiting out here for you, and I can drive us back to your place. Okay?" The dangerous glint in her eyes dared Steve to argue with her.

Steve raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, fine," he capitulated. "Danny's been giving you lessons in not taking any of my crap, hasn't he?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny," she quipped, laughing as Steve's Aneurysm Face came out in full effect.

* * *

It was exactly five minutes before Doctor Gant returned. "The nurses have Danny all settled in his room for the night, so if you'll follow me…"

Steve pushed himself to his feet again and followed her towards the lifts. "Danny's got a daughter," he said as they stepped into the metal carriage. "She's 12 years old. Would it be all right for her to visit her father?"

"Danny's on the Intermediate Care Unit; as I said earlier, while his condition is not critical, nerve damage is still a worry," she started. "Generally, children under the age of 14 aren't allowed to visit, but as he is her father, I'll allow it. I'll leave a note in his chart at the nurses' station."

"Thank you," he smiled gratefully. "She's really worried about Danny."

"Well, she'll be able to see him tomorrow," she beamed. The lift dinged as the doors slid back, revealing the Intermediate Care Unit. "Danny's room is just here, on the right." Doctor Gant led Steve towards the glass cubicle and slid the door back.

Steve froze as he took in his best friend's appearance. The bruises had flourished quite nicely; almost the entire left side of Danny's face was discoloured black and blue, and his eye was rather swollen. Both wrists were wrapped with gauze to protect the lacerations from the handcuffs, and his right arm rested on a pillow. More bandages were visible under the sleeve of the hospital gown, extending down to his elbow to cover the deep gash. Moving around to the other side of the bed, Steve examined the '5' carved into Danny's skin, trying and failing to suppress a shudder at the fact that Joseph had branded his partner.

Taking a deep breath to stop himself from getting too worked up, Steve glanced at the equipment surrounding the bed, and was somewhat pleased to find that it was just basic monitoring equipment. Heart monitor, blood pressure cuff, pulse ox clip on his finger and an IV catheter. There were three bags hanging from the pole by Danny's bed, all containing different coloured liquids inside. Steve easily recognised the blood transfusion, and assumed that the other two bags were IV fluids and pain medication.

"I'll arrange it with the nurses so that you and your team can come and go as you please, but for tonight, Danny needs his rest," Doctor Gant informed him.

Steve caught the cautionary tone in her voice, and nodded. "Okay. I'll be back in the morning with his daughter."

"I look forward to meeting her. Good night, Commander."

As Danny's doctor left, Steve turned back to his partner's still form and gently took his hand in his own. "I think now I understand why you rant at me whenever I do stupid stuff, Danno," he whispered. "All of this has shaved at least five years off of my life expectancy." He paused and gave Danny's hand a gentle squeeze. "You'll be okay, Danno; I know you'll be. Everything's going to work out just fine. I'll back tomorrow with Gracie. Stay strong, partner."

Laying Danny's hand back down on the mattress, Steve turned to leave, but stopped at the sound of Danny's weak voice. "Steve..." He glanced back over his shoulder, and saw Danny's blue eyes, dulled by the medication, staring back at him.

"Hey, buddy," Steve smiled, moving back towards the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Danny's gaze drifted towards the sheet for a moment, something akin to embarrassment flitting across his face, before he looked back to Steve. "Can you... Can you stay? I don't really want to be alone."

"Of course I can stay, Danno." Steve's response was instant. "I'm not going anywhere."

**Danny's okay... mostly. I like to do a bit more than just physical whump :)**

**I have three more exams to do after half term, so I will be able to devote more time to the story, then. For now, though, I hope this satisfied your cravings**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi, guys; sorry for the delay. I have finally finished all my exams! *starts having a party* However, we have to come straight back to school and start learning the A2 course now. No rest for the wicked. Thanks for all the lovely reviews and encouragement; glad to know people haven't given up with my sporadic updates. Enjoy!**

True to his word, Steve remained by Danny's side for the entire night. Even when Doctor Gant had returned and tried to throw him out, Steve had stood his ground and stubbornly refused to leave.

Doctor Gant wasn't backing down, either. "I told you, Commander McGarrett, Detective Williams needs his rest," she snapped, hands planted firmly on her hips as she glared at him.

"How would I disrupt Danny's rest?" Steve asked incredulously. "It's not as if I'd purposely try and keep him awake; not after what he's been through. Besides, Danny asked me to stay, and I have no intention of leaving him if he doesn't want me to."

"Well, if you haven't noticed, Daniel is asleep now," Doctor Gant pointed out, gesturing to the slumbering detective. "And with the medications that he is due, he most likely won't wake until the morning. So he won't even notice if you're gone."

"What if he does, though?" Steve countered. "Danny's been through an ordeal tonight –"

"Exactly! Which is why you need to leave so Daniel can rest!" the doctor interrupted.

Steve's patience was wearing thin and he had to bite his tongue for a moment to refrain from saying something that would surely get him banned. "If I may finish," he snapped. "Danny has been through an ordeal tonight, and I am certain that he may suffer some degree of PTSD; nightmares, definitely. If so, Danny will wake up confused, disorientated and terrified, surrounded by people he doesn't know, which will only stress him out even more. If I'm here, I can calm him down quickly."

Doctor Gant knew the former Navy SEAL had a valid point; if her patient did indeed have any nightmares and woke up terrified, the possibility that he might become combative and hurt someone was too high. "Fine," she grudgingly acquiesced. "But don't get in the way of the nurses, and you don't argue with us. Are we clear?"

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath. "Doc, I'm not trying to be difficult," he said carefully. "But Danny doesn't want to be alone, nor do I want to leave him."

Doctor Gant's expression softened slightly as he spoke. "I know. I'll get one of my nurses to set up a cot for you and your team."

Steve nodded his thanks, and turned back to Danny as his doctor left again. The injured detective had fallen asleep again while Steve had been arguing with Doctor Gant, and, although he appeared to be resting easily, as his doctor had said, Steve was unwilling to leave him.

As he watched his partner sleep, Steve's mind began to wander. Now that the case had been closed and the threat neutralised, Steve allowed himself to drift through his thoughts.

Only now, he realised just how close they had come to losing Danny. Alex Joseph had been ready to kill Danny there and then, and Steve was certain that, had the team arrived even a moment later, Danny could have been dead by that point. It made him feel almost sick when he thought about how close he had come to having to tell Grace that her father wasn't coming home. Steve had promised Danny before that he would be the one to tell Grace, if the unthinkable were to happen, but he prayed that he would never be forced into that position.

Steve shook his head and forced himself to remember that Danny was safe, Joseph was in custody and they could start to put the whole nightmare behind them. He sank into the high-backed chair, which, he realised, was padded and more comfortable than hospital chairs usually were. Leaning back, Steve prepared himself to hold vigil over his partner.

* * *

Kono lay under the covers on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was exhausted, but she found herself unable to close her eyes. After a tough case, Kono usually couldn't relax for a couple of days, still running slightly on adrenaline. Tonight was no exception; upon arriving at her house with Grace, Kono had set up the spare bedroom for her, telling her to go to bed straight away. She knew the preteen girl had been through hell, too.

That had been close to four hours ago, and sleep still eluded Kono. Giving up on hope that sleep would come, she threw back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She sat there for some time, staring into the darkness of her room. Her mind wouldn't stop racing; the moment they had found Danny kept replaying in her mind. The amount of fear in his eyes had disturbed her. Fear wasn't an emotion Kono associated with Danny Williams.

The sound of a door opening pulled Kono from her preoccupation. She hadn't thought that Grace was awake; last she checked on Danny's daughter, she had thought the 12-year-old to be asleep. Evidently not, however.

Grace sat with her long legs pulled up to her chest, arms encircling them. Kono came into the living room quietly, not wanting to scare her.

"Can't sleep?" she asked quietly. Grace startled at her voice, but relaxed quickly again, shaking her head after a moment. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Grace hesitated, and lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Maybe… I don't know," she whispered uncertainly.

Kono sighed inwardly, knowing immediately the emotional conflict that Grace was currently going through. "When I can't sleep, I always raid my freezer for a midnight snack. Shall we see what I've got? Come on."

Grace followed her aunt into the kitchen, and watched as she rummaged through the freezer. "Aha! I knew I had some in here," Kono stated triumphantly, holding up two tubs of ice cream. "Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough, or Carte d'Or Eton Mess? Which one do you fancy?"

"Why not both?" Grace suggested with a small grin.

Kono chuckled as she grabbed two spoons. "Why not indeed," she laughed as they returned to the living room. "I've lost count of how many nights I've done this."

"Do you struggle with sleep a lot?" Grace questioned.

"Usually after a hard case, but sometimes, if something's weighing on my mind. I remember one time, when I was a little older than you, I got into an argument with one of my best friends. This wasn't just a 'fight today, make up tomorrow' deal; we both said some things we didn't mean, and I thought that was it: the friendship was over."

"What were you fighting about?"

"She used to go out with this guy in the year above us, whom we both liked at one time. I got over my crush; she didn't, and started going out with him. Well, you know how people say you shouldn't meet your heroes? Never has that rung so true; Hiwa – that was his name – cheated on my friend twice when they were together. My friend, Puna, she broke up with him, but he was so apologetic; he kept saying he wanted only her."

"Yeah, right," Grace scoffed. "So why'd he cheat on her twice if he wanted her so bad?"

"Exactly what I said," Kono smiled, taking another bite of ice cream. "I told her not to go out with him again, but she ignored me and got back together with him. We got into a massive fight about it, and she stormed off."

"Did you ever make up with Puna? And what happened with her boyfriend?"

"I did; we became friends again, but not under the best circumstances. Later that day, I heard that Puna had been in an accident; she'd been hit by a car, and she was in hospital," Kono revealed. "I was distraught; I thought it was my fault. I thought that because we'd had a fight, she was upset too, and wasn't paying attention to the traffic."

"But it wasn't your fault, Auntie Kono," Grace protested. "It was the person who hit her."

"I didn't think that at the time, though, Grace. I felt so guilty for so long; I didn't go see Puna in the hospital, I became depressed and withdrawn. Luckily, I still had people to smack some sense into me," she joked, eliciting a small chuckle from the preteen. "Puna came to see me when she was released from the hospital. As soon as I saw her, I burst into tears and started blubbering about how I was so, so sorry and would she ever forgive me. Puna started crying too, because she felt guilty, also."

"What did she feel guilty for?"

"She told me that she had been talking to Hiwa after we fought, saying that she wanted to get back together with him. Apparently, he given it some thought, as well, and changed his mind; he didn't want Puna anymore. She was so angry with herself for being so daft, and she thought she'd lost me over it, too. But we both agreed to forget about it, put it behind us and move on."

"See? I told you you weren't responsible," Grace beamed proudly.

"And neither are you, Grace," Kono added pointedly. She continued as Grace became confused. "I told you that story because I want you- no, I _need _you to understand that what happened to your dad wasn't your fault. It was only the man who hurt him."

Grace's face fell, and she turned away, wrapping an arm around herself as if to provide some sort of protection for herself. "I was mean, though; I yelled at Danno, and he got mad at me. And because he was mad at me, he was distracted and the bad man got him!"

"That's not true, Grace," Kono countered. "The bad man got your dad because he was smart. You had nothing to do with it, sweetie. So, I want you to let go of any guilt you're feeling right now, because it's not needed. Okay?"

"I'll try," Grace murmured. Kono wasn't entirely convinced, but at least it was a step in the right direction.

**I chose to be nice for a change, and keep the whump to a minimum. We'll get back that in the next chapter, however... Until next time, please review! x**


	19. Chapter 19

**Holy crap, I am awful with updates! I am so sorry; I didn't mean to leave it for a whole month again! I didn't really have much of a choice though, because my laptop died. Like seriously, it had an aneurysm and died on me (the hard drive failed). I had to wait a week and a half for it to return from the store, and then another week to finish setting it up again and doing all the updates. All I can say is thank f**k I backed up everything onto my memory stick!  
****To make up for my lengthy absence, I've made this chapter extra, _extra_ long for you all. And I promised there'd be whump, didn't I?**

Chin trudged through the hospital corridors, a weary ache settling into his bones. Being on the go for close to twenty four hours was starting to take its toll on him. In his rookie days, Chin had been able to go for at least three days without sleep, but he wasn't a rookie any more. Chin grimaced at that unwelcome reminder.

Riding the lift up to the correct floor, Chin strode towards the nurses' desk. "Excuse me, can you tell me where Danny Williams' room is?" he asked the young nurse behind the desk.

The nurse, whose name badge read 'Meredith', regarded him suspiciously for a moment. "Do you know Mr Williams?"

"It's _Detective _Williams, actually," Chin corrected her, holding up his badge. "He's a close friend and colleague."

"I'm sorry, Detective," Meredith apologised. "Detective Williams' room is just there." She pointed towards Danny's room.

Chin nodded his thanks and moved towards Danny's room. Opening the door as quietly as possible, he slipped inside, sliding the door shut behind him. He stood there for several moments, observing the scene before him. Both Danny and Steve were sleeping. Danny looked like hell – the bruises had developed rapidly, and, even in his sleep, there were pain lines in the corners of his eyes. But nevertheless, he was safe and resting. Steve, meanwhile, dozed in the chair beside the bed, slumped over slightly. His elbow rested on the armrest as he supported his head on his fist.

Stepping lightly, Chin moved closer towards Danny. He took in the various injuries on his friend's body; the bruises, swollen eye and split lip decorated his face like a macabre artwork. His breath caught in his throat as he moved around Danny's bed and he saw the '5' imprinted in his skin like a brand. _"Kanapapiki," _he murmured.

In the chair, Steve grunted and his eyes popped open. It took him a couple of seconds to remember where he was as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, groaning at the ache in his back.

"You know, that cot is there for a reason, brah," Chin deadpanned, smirking as Steve's head snapped up, clearly surprised to see him. Growing serious, he glanced at Danny. "How is he?"

Steve sighed, leaning back heavily in the chair. "This whole thing is a goddamn clusterfuck, Chin; his arm is a mess. He needed surgery just to clean it."

"What did his doctor say?"

"She's worried about nerve damage; they're going to do a neurological exam tomorrow to determine if there is any damage, and if there is, the extent of it," Steve continued. "And then there's the bloody number…" He paused for several moments, shaking his head. "We weren't fast enough, Chin; Danny was branded because we weren't fast enough."

"Yeah, we weren't fast enough to stop Joseph from branding Danny, but we were fast enough to save him," Chin reminded him.

"Barely!" Steve snapped, sitting straight up now. "We barely got there in time to save him!"

"But we did; Danny's alive and safe, and that's the important thing!" Chin retorted. "For once, Steve, focus on the positive outcomes rather than feeding the negatives to your massive guilt complex."

Steve hung his head; his entire being deflated and he slumped over dejectedly. "We came this close to having to tell Grace that Danno wasn't coming home." Holding his thumb and forefinger an inch away from each other, he continued, "I was this close to having to tell her that when Danny was in that Colombian prison, and when we got him back and you acquitted, I swore to myself that I would never be forced into that position again."

Chin wasn't surprised by Steve's outburst; they all had been affected by the mess with Reyes and the $18 million, and, as much as the man tried to compartmentalise and bury his emotions, Steve couldn't hide from them forever. "You can't control everything, Steve," he said softly. "I know it's ingrained into you from your SEAL training that a leader is responsible for his team and everything that happens to his team members, but the reality you cannot control everything. You need to accept that. Okay?"

Huffing out a breath, Steve nodded. "Okay."

Chin knew it would take time before he completely accepted it, but for Steve to at least acknowledge it was the first step. "Listen, get some sleep; I'll keep an eye on Danny for now."

"You need to sleep, too," Steve pointed out, although already traipsing towards the cot in the corner of the room.

"I'll sleep later," Chin reassured him, settling himself in Steve's vacated seat. "You just worry about yourself for now."

Lowering himself down onto the bed, Steve nodded carefully. "Okay. But don't… don't lemme sleep for t-too long," he slurred as he lay down. "On'y a coupla hours…"

"Sleep, Steve," Chin smiled, watching as his friend's eyes slid shut and sleep overcame him. The SEAL pushed himself too hard sometimes; it seemed as if he had this misguided notion that he was indeed Superman and he could handle anything and everything, which was what drove his guilt whenever something happened to one of them.

"It's no wonder you get so pissed with him sometimes, Danny," he joked with the injured detective. A small part hoped for a snarky response, but he knew anyway that he wouldn't get one yet. He cast a shrewd eye over Danny, reassuring himself that his friend really was okay, before relaxing into the chair and allowing himself some rest finally. As he gave himself over to sleep, he thought to himself that things could finally start to move in the right direction.

* * *

Danny hurt all over; there wasn't a single part of his body that didn't feel abused. While some areas were just a dull ache, other parts hurt more. His head, neck and arm were the worst; waves of pain rolled through his skull in time with his pulse and his neck stung sharply. His arm, meanwhile, felt as though someone had thrust a hot poker into his flesh, yet felt oddly numb at the same time.

His mouth felt painfully dry too, he realised. He tried to swallow in an attempt to relieve the sensation, but he found he couldn't. He couldn't open his eyelids either, feeling as though they had been glued shut. Apart from the aches and pains in his body, Danny realised that he couldn't really feel anything. His mind felt so fuzzy; he felt like someone had stuffed his head full of cotton wool.

Gradually, Danny managed to push through the fog in his mind. He quickly picked up on that he was in a hospital; the sharp, sterile tang of antiseptic was unmistakable. Whispers of noise filtered into his consciousness, luring him back to awareness. He heard a faint, repetitive beeping which he recognised as a heart monitor, as well as the blood pressure cuff around his upper arm, easily recognisable by its tightness.

Summoning all the energy he could muster, Danny forced his eyes open. Although he didn't manage to open them fully, he was still able to look around his room. It was similar to Intensive Care, but he knew it wasn't. They had the same equipment as ICU, but there wasn't as much of an air of urgency here. In the corner of the room, Steve lay stretched out on a cot, deeply asleep. A small smile tugged at his lips as Danny took in his slumbering partner's form, as it wasn't often that he got to see the man so relaxed. Steve was usually so wary and vigilant, as if anticipating an attack, that Danny had to remind him sometimes that it was acceptable for him to stand down.

Danny shifted slightly in the bed, trying and failing to find a more comfortable position on the thin mattress. He winced as the pain increased several notches, particularly in his arm. He strained his neck, trying not to move any other part of his body, to look at his arm. The sleeves of the hospital-issued gown came down to almost his elbows, but just peeking out from underneath, Danny could see bandages wound around his bicep.

"The penalty of your sin," a familiar voice proclaimed. Danny whipped his head in the other direction, ignoring the pain flaring up in his head, and gaped at Alex Joseph standing in the doorway to his room, a nine-inch blade held in one hand. "But you are not yet cleansed of your sin."

"He's right, Detective," a second, accented voice added. Danny's blood ran cold as Marco Reyes appeared, leaning against the windowsill. There was a single bullet hold in his forehead, a thin trail of blood dripping down his face. "You're guilty as hell. They're gonna stick you on a plane and send you right back to Colombia. Back to prison, _puto._" A knowing smile spread across the drug dealer's face as he spoke.

"'Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death'," Joseph quoted, stepping closer to Danny. He wanted to run, but his body refused to cooperate. "This is the Word of the Lord."

"Or how about 'an eye for an eye'? How do you like that, Detective?" The Colombian produced a gun and pointed it at Steve, who was somehow still sleeping. "You killed me, so I kill your brother? Oh, wait..." Reyes' voice was mocking as his smile grew feral, reminding Danny of a shark. "I already did." Reyes pulled the trigger.

_"No!"_

* * *

Chin's eyes snapped open as soon as he heard the heart monitor increase its beeping. Danny was tossing and turning restlessly in the bed, clearly trapped in the throes of a particularly horrible nightmare. The sheer look of terror on his friend's face had Chin surging to his feet to try and bring him out of the dream.

"Danny! Danny, you're dreaming," Chin called, but his words had no effect. One of the detective's fists almost hit him, and he grabbed Danny's arms to stop him from hurting himself, but the contact only stressed him out more, as, in Danny's mind now, it wasn't Chin but some monster than only he could see.

* * *

"You son of a bitch!" Danny screamed as Reyes killed Steve.

Reyes' look turned derisive. "The penalty of your sin," he mocked.

"And yet you are still not cleansed," Joseph interjected. "But your sin is great, and cannot be shared alone."

"Danno?" Danny's heart almost stopped as he heard Grace's frightened voice. She stood in front of Reyes, terror and confusion evident on her face.

"Grace, baby... E-Everything will be okay," he stammered, trying to comfort her. "I-I promise, baby, everything will be okay."

"Liar, liar," Reyes sing-songed.

"'I am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me'." Joseph's voice rang out again, spouting more biblical quotes.

"You heard him, Daniel." Marco placed his gun against the back of Grace's head. "The children are punished, too."

* * *

"Steve, wake the hell up now!" Chin all but screeched at the SEAL, still clutching Danny's wrists as his movements became even more frantic, distressed noises escaping his lips.

McGarrett sat bolt upright, bewildered for a moment as he regained his bearings, but quickly overcame his confusion when confronted with the scene in front of him. "Chin?" he snapped, almost tripping over his feet as he rushed to Danny's side.

"He's having one hell of a nightmare and I can't wake him up," Chin quickly explained. "And he's going to hurt himself, as well."

Dodging the wildly flailing limbs, Steve grabbed Danny's shoulders. "Danno! It's me; it's Steve! Whatever it is, it's not real; it's a nightmare! Come on, buddy; wake up!"

Without warning, Danny surged upright, almost hitting both men. Although his eyes were wide open, his unfocused and terrified gaze indicated that he was still trapped in the awful dream. _"NO! Grace!" _he screamed. His focus shifted to Steve, but he didn't see his partner; only the horror that existed in his mind. "Bastard!"

Ignoring the hate directed his way, Steve reached forwards and placed his hands on either side of Danny's face, forcing his partner to look him directly in the eye. "Listen to me, Daniel!" he ordered in his best Lieutenant Commander voice. "It's a nightmare; it's not real. Now, come on; wake up!"

Just like that, the focus returned to Danny's eyes and he realised he was staring at his partner, and not his daughter's killer. "S-Steve?"

"Yeah, Danno." Steve's voice was soft and comforting now, trying to calm Danny down from his incredible state of anxiety. "You with me now?"

"Steve, it- Joseph a-and- and Reyes... He... They... you and Matty and Grace..." Tears were flowing freely down Danny's cheeks as he started panting. "I-I'm so sorry, Steve..."

Steve could barely keep up with Danny's panicked ramblings. "What do you mean, buddy? What are you sorry for?" Danny couldn't answer, his breaths coming in shorter, sharper bursts now.

Meredith, still on duty, burst into Danny's room, took one look at his vitals and sprung into action. She unhooked the oxygen mask from the wall and unwound the tubing, turning up the flow of oxygen. "Detective, I need you to slow your breathing down for me," she ordered, placing the mask over his nose and mouth. "Take nice, deep breaths; in and out, in and out... Yes, like that." Eventually, Danny's breathing decreased to an acceptable rate. "Excellent. Right, I'm going to give you something to help you relax."

The panic returned to Danny's eyes. "No... No drugs." His voice was muffled underneath the plastic.

Meredith frowned, pausing as she prepared the medication. "Detective, you need to rest and-"

"No!" Danny repeated forcefully.

The nurse nodded. "All right, Detective. No drugs. Leave the mask on for half an hour; your oxygen sats are a little low," she added before exiting the room.

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the three men, none of them wanting to talk what had just happened. Not yet, anyway. Steve was the one who eventually broke the silence. "Why don't you get some rest, Danny? Grace is coming here tomorrow, and I'm sure you're going to want to be wide awake for that."

Danny was spent already, his outburst robbing him of all his energy. "Stay?" he murmured uncertainly.

"Of course, Danno," Steve agreed without hesitation, and glanced towards Chin. "Why don't you get some sleep too?"

Chin nodded. "Wake me up before Kono and Grace get here, though," he warned as he lay down.

Steve turned back to his now-slumbering partner, watching as the panic and terror slowly disappeared from his face. He'd been correct - he had known that Danny would have nightmares - he just hadn't thought they'd be this bad. But even as he thought about it, Danny Williams was not the sort to do things by halves; it was either go big or go home. Everything that happened just now was big, so maybe they could aim for home now, Steve hoped.

**Aren't I good with promises? I have to admit, I maybe had a little bit too much fun writing that. I'm not too happy with how this chapter ended, but do you know what? It's two o'clock in the morning, it's still 19 degrees and I refuse to open my window because there's a big-ass spider living on said window and I refuse to share my room unless it pays rent. In other words, right now, I don't care XD. Reviews are always greatly appreciated.**

**Before I sign off, I want to run something by everyone. I'm assuming everyone has read my other major story 'Remaking Lives'? Well, my summer project is to rewrite it (I went against the rule of not reading your own work and I decided it wasn't good. I'm a perfectionist; what are you gonna do?) and I've decided to do an alternate version, wherein Bethany survives. What does everyone think of that? Leave your responses in the reviews :-)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi, guys! I'm finally finished with school for summer. Yay! After this summer holiday, I'll only have 30 more weeks of teaching at my secondary school. My God, I've only got one more year! It's come around so quick!  
****Thank you to those who left reviews for the last chapter; you all make it worth writing. And thank you to BreeAnne1 and AcGEM700 for offering an opinion about my previous story re-write. Once this story is finished, that will be my summer project. Enjoy :)**

Sunlight streamed in through the open window, brightening the dreary hospital room and somewhat reducing the atmosphere of sickness and death. Danny lay motionless in the bed, having finally fallen asleep again only a short time previously. He had obstinately fought off sleep, not wanting to experience another nightmare like he had before. Steve, the ever-loyal man that he was, remained awake with him, not wanting his best friend to be alone. He had insisted, however, that Chin get some rest; he had stated that he had lasted far longer and on less sleep while in the SEALs. Out of the three of them, therefore, Chin was the only one to get any proper rest.

Chin was also the first of them to awaken again. He opened his eyes slowly, immediately slamming them shut again with a groan as the early morning sunlight pierced his eyes. Carefully pushing himself upright, he took in the sight of the other two men before him. Danny finally seemed to be resting, much to his relief; he had worried last night that the injured detective's obstinacy might have an adverse effect on his recovery. Steve, meanwhile, had drifted off into sleep as well during the night, and had slipped down in the chair; most of his upper body was now horizontal. Chin suspected that he would have an awful crick in his neck when he woke up later.

Chin pushed himself to his feet, a happy noise escaping from his lips as his back clicked. He moved towards Steve and grasped his forearm. "Hey, Steve," he gently shook the younger man's arm.

Steve groaned and unwillingly opened his eyes, glancing blearily towards Chin. "What? What's up?" he murmured, rubbing at his eyes.

"Come on; get up," Chin ordered him. "You're going to get some sleep –"

"I slept in the ch-chai-i-ir…" Steve interrupted him, while failing to stifle a yawn.

"_On the cot,_" Chin finished, glaring slightly at his friend. "You'll be much more comfortable there, and you'll get more sleep that way. Trust me; you'll thank me for it later." Chin was able to pull Steve to his feet with little resistance, a testament to just how tired the former SEAL was, although the man was trying hard not to show it.

"No… No, Chin, I… I promised Danny; he don't wanna be 'lone," Steve slurred. His speech was disjointed, unable to form full sentences, and he looked like he was barely holding onto consciousness now.

"Danny is fine, Steve, and you need to worry about yourself for now." Chin gently pushed Steve down as he spoke so that the man lay horizontal on the cot. "Get some sleep; I'll wake you up before Doctor Gant gets here."

Steve's eyes were unfocused and already sliding shut as he nodded dumbly. "Okay… sleep…"

"Sleep," the Hawaiian man nodded, a smile playing on his lips. As much as he tried to be the big, tough, show-no-fear SEAL, Steve always looked like a little kid when he was asleep. Maybe it was because, at this time, he didn't carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Steve's phone started vibrating on the bedside table, drawing Chin from his thoughts. Grabbing it before the noise could disturb Steve or Danny's rest, Chin left the room. Kono's name flashed on the caller ID. Chin's anxiety rose a couple of notches, which he knew was irrational, but given the fact that it was still early morning, not to mention everything that had happened in the last several hours, he felt that he was justified in being irrationally worried.

He pressed "Answer" and raised the phone to his ear. "Kono?"

"_Chin?" _His cousin's confusion was easily heard in her voice. _"Where's Steve?"_

"He's asleep right now."

"_Really? It's, like, six o'clock; isn't Steve usually up by half five every morning?" _

"Normally, yes, but he's been awake with Danny all night, and he's exhausted, even though he refused to show it," Chin grumbled, somewhat irritated with Steve's pig-headedness.

"_Is Danny okay? What happened?" _Kono's tone quickly changed from one of incredulity to concern.

"He had a nightmare last night; really awful one. It took us some effort to wake him up and pull him out of it, and then he was so afraid of having another nightmare, he refused to go to sleep. And Steve being Steve, he stayed awake with him all night," he explained. "Danny finally fell asleep again about an hour ago, and I finally convinced Steve to get some sleep too."

"_I should be there, too," _she sighed. _"You need rest as well, Chin."_

"I'm all right for now, Kono," Chin countered.

"_I almost feel like I'm doing nothing here," _Kono complained.

"No, you're not, cuz; I'm sure Danny would rather you stay with Grace than be here at the moment."

_"Yeah, I guess," _Kono agreed, although she sounded unhappy about it_. "Has his doctor been back in yet at all?"_

Kono made an unhappy noise in the back of her throat. "Has his doctor been back in yet at all?"

"Not yet; Steve said that they were going to carry out some tests later today to determine if there is any nerve damage."

"_How's Steve?"_

Chin blew out a breath. "Well, you know Steve; whenever one of us ends up in hospital, he feels responsible, regardless of what happened. He said that we didn't save Danny quickly enough, because Joseph still branded him. He was so focused on that that he completely looked over the fact that Danny is still alive."

"_That man is an idiot sometimes; it has to be said," _Kono chuckled. _"I think we're all just tired. We need some time off!"_

"I'm sure Steve will appeal to the Governor for some vacation time. God knows we deserve it!" Chin replied with a laugh. "How are things on your end? Is everything okay?"

"_Well, that depends on your definition of 'okay', cuz," _she replied.

"How's Grace?" Chin tried again. Steve had been worried about Grace, as was he; they had suspected that Danny's daughter would have been affected by last night's events, too. Kono's hesitation in answering served to confirm their suspicions, as well as further worry him. "Kono?"

"_She's struggling as well, Chin," _Kono eventually replied. _"She woke up in the middle of the night and confessed that she thought that what happened to Danny was her fault."_

"How did she come to that conclusion?" Chin was confused.

"_Grace thought that because they argued, Danny was mad at her, which meant that he distracted, so Joseph was able to get the drop on him," _Kono explained. _"But I talked to her about it; told her that it absolutely was not her fault. She seemed to understand what I was saying, but I don't know if she accepted it."_

"I think she just needs to see her dad," Chin commented. "If anyone can convince her, it's Danny."

"_Obviously. I told Grace that we'd come by the hospital today and see Danny. What time should we come over?"_

This time, it was Chin who hesitated. "I don't know, Kono; Danny's doctor hasn't been in yet, so I don't know what time they'll do the tests. And I don't think Grace should be here when they do, because I think it'll just worry her even more. She doesn't need that."

"_That's probably a good idea. Grace won't like it, though, I'm sure. She really wants to see Danny and I –" _Kono stopped mid-sentence and, some distance from the phone, Chin could hear Grace's voice. _"She wants to talk to you."_

"_Uncle Chin?" _Grace's worried voice came through the speaker.

"Hey Grace, are you okay?"

"_When can I see my dad?" _The worry in Grace's voice made Chin ache; no child as young as Grace should ever feel that kind of anxiety. _"Auntie Kono said we could come to the hospital today to see him."_

Chin hated that he would have to be the one to dash her hopes. "I don't know, Grace; your dad isn't quite well enough yet for visitors. I promise I'll call you and Auntie Kono when you can see Danno."

"_Is Danno really okay?"_

"He will be, _kaikamahine_," Chin hurried to reassure her. "He'll be much better once he gets a hug from you."

"_Okay…"_ As he had predicted, Grace wasn't happy. _"Thank you for staying with my dad, Uncle Chin. Thank Uncle Steve for me, too."_

"How did you know Uncle Steve is here?"

"_Because Danno's there. Where else would he be?"_

Chin was somewhat stunned by Grace's words; he hadn't realised before how observant she was. She was, however, the daughter of a detective, so the thought should have occurred to him before now.

"I'll tell him, Gracie," he promised. "And I'll call Auntie Kono when Danno's allowed to have visitors. Can you give the phone back to Kono?"

Kono took the phone back from the pre-teen girl, sounding relieved as she spoke to Chin. _"Hey. I'll take Grace out for breakfast. Aloha, cuz."_

"Aloha," Chin returned the sentiment. He hung up and quietly returned to Danny's room, expecting both him and Steve to still be asleep. He replaced Steve's phone on the bedside table, before he became aware of the feeling that he was being watched. Looking up, he saw two tired blue eyes staring back at him.

"Hi," Danny wearily greeted him.

"Hey, are you okay?" Chin asked, slightly concerned. He received a non-committal shrug as an answer. "You should still be sleeping. It's been a long night."

"I'm fine, Chin," was the succinct response. Even though it went unspoken, the native Hawaiian still caught the lingering fear of another nightmare.

"Listen, Kono's going to bring Grace over to the hospital later. Not until later, though," he added hastily. "Not until later; your doctor wants to do some more tests and I thought it might be wise for Grace to visit after you've had the tests, rather than during. She's quite worried."

"What tests?" The anxiety in Danny's voice was easily heard.

"Neurological tests. Your doctor is concerned about the possibility of nerve damage in your arm."

"How bad is it?" Danny glanced wide-eyed towards his bandaged arm.

Chin placed his hand on Danny's uninjured left arm, forcing the detective to turn his focus back to him. "They don't know yet; in fact, they don't even know yet if there is any damage. It's a concern at the moment, and they want to rule it out. Nothing's certain yet, so don't get worried. Okay?"

Danny nodded, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself again. "Okay. Okay. When are they going to do the tests?"

"I don't know, Danny; it's barely even gone seven o'clock," Chin answered. "They probably won't come until mid-morning, so why don't you get some more sleep? You need it."

Danny lowered his gaze, biting on his lip. "What if I have another nightmare?" he asked eventually.

"You won't," Chin reassured him. "I'll wake you up if you start twitching." The blond man still didn't look convinced, however. "Just try, Danny."

"Okay," Danny nodded, settling back down in the bed. His gaze found Chin again. "I'll be okay, won't I?"

Chin smiled encouragingly at the younger man as he sat back down in the chair. "Of course you will be brah."

**kaikamahine = niece**

**I hope you all enjoyed that. I'm sorry for the delay yet again; I always struggle when a story's winding down to a finish. There won't be more than five more chapters now. I will try and get it finished it as quickly as possible so I can start on the 'Remaking Lives' re-write. As always, please leave reviews x**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hi, guys! In return for all your lovely reviews, here is the next chapter, quicker than usual. I have had nothing but time this week to write this, since I'm on my summer holidays now. Most of my friends are still in South America on an expedition, but they will be back within the next few days. Thank you for all your reviews; I'm so happy you all enjoyed it! I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much ;)**

Despite Chin's words, Danny managed to work himself up into a state of worry by mid-morning; he found himself unable to fall asleep again, due to his apprehension about the tests later on. The possibility of nerve damage weighed heavily on his mind. If there was nerve damage, what effect would that have on his career? He would be taken out of field work, most likely, since his right hand was his dominant hand.

Danny suppressed an angry sigh. Apparently, it wasn't enough that abducted him, branded and tortured him, and invaded his dreams, but he also had to threaten his livelihood, too? His profession, his passion, his reason for being? All he knew was how to be a cop. He didn't know how to be anything different, or what he would do if he were unable to continue.

A voice from the corner of the room startled him out of his reverie. "What's got you thinking so hard?" Steve asked, sounding amused, as he pushed himself to his feet.

Danny stared at him. "What?"

"You looked like you were in a completely different universe," his partner clarified. "So what's going through your head?"

Danny hesitated, nibbling on his lower lip. "The tests today…" he mumbled, his voice barely audible.

Steve's mirth slid off his face and his lips parted slightly, understanding dawning on his face. "Danny, there's no point in worrying about them," he reasoned. "We don't know yet that there is even any damage. And if there is, then we'll deal with it; your doctors will set out a treatment plan to sort out the damage."

"But what if they can't? What if I'm left with a crippled arm?" Danny countered angrily. "I won't be able to continue as a cop, will I? Or at least, I won't be able to continue in the field; I'll be stuck behind a desk for the rest of my career!"

"Or what if there is no damage and your arm will be fine?" Steve retorted, glaring at the detective. "In a few months, you'll be back on full duty. Back in the field until the end of your career." He paused and tried to interpret Danny's facial expression now. "Remember what I said before, Danny? Stop focusing on the negatives and think about the positive outcomes."

"I have been trying," Danny defended himself. "But it's a little hard to do when your motto for most of your life has been 'Expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed'. That's served me quite well over the years, it has to be said."

"That's not a healthy attitude, brah; I told you that, didn't I?"

Danny let out a noise that was halfway between a growl and a sigh. "Look, Steve, I still feel like crap," he huffed. "I don't need this lecture again."

"Well, evidently you do, because it doesn't seem to have sunk through your thick skull yet," the SEAL snapped.

Danny growled again and rubbed the back of his neck. He froze as his fingers touched the newly-formed scabs of the cuts forming the '5' on the side of his neck.

"Dr Gant said that the cuts may scar, but if they do, you can have them reduced with laser treatment," Steve offered quietly, his expression softening.

Danny nodded absently; Steve wasn't quite sure if his partner heard him or not. "He… He held me down… used a scalpel to carve it," he whispered. "I was left alone down there for a while – I don't know how long – and I-I kept thinking that Joseph had… had marked me for death. I thought that my time was up; that I'd finally run out of borrowed time." Steve remained silent as Danny spoke about being held captive by their killer. "I honestly thought that I was going to die down there, Steve. It took us a month to ID Joseph as the killer; I didn't know if you'd be able to find me in a matter of hours."

As Danny spoke, Steve perched on the edge of the bed, placing his arm on Danny's arm. "I will always find you, Danno," he murmured.

Danny released a shaky breath and shot his best friend a small smile, although it didn't remain for long. "You know what my biggest fear throughout the entire thing was? It wasn't that I was going to die; it was that I'd die with my daughter angry at me. For a parent, the best feeling in the world is knowing that your child loves you, and when they're angry or upset at you… it's like a dagger to the heart, man." Danny rubbed at his eyes, willing the tears not to fall. "All I kept praying for was the chance to tell Grace one more time that Danno loves her."

Steve thought to himself that, if Danny was confessing his fears, he should as well. "You want to know what my biggest fear was? That we wouldn't find you in time and I'd have to tell Gracie that you weren't coming home," he revealed. "When you were arrested and extradited to Colombia, I promised Grace that I would bring you home. If we hadn't found the ledger with Reyes' deals with Sam Alexander, I don't think we would ever have been able to bring you home. I came this close to having to tell Grace that I'd failed; that I'd broken my promise. And then when we brought you home, I swore to myself that I would never be put in that position again." Steve shook his head and turned away from Danny. "I can't even keep a promise to myself, it seems."

Danny tapped the injured of his injured right arm against Steve's hand. "You found me. That's all that matters," he stated firmly.

Steve took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay."

"What time is Kono bringing Grace over?" Danny asked in an attempt to change the topic.

"I don't know; after they do the tests, whenever that is," Steve replied, glancing at his watch.

"How does now sound?" Dr Gant suggested from the door. Neither Steve nor Danny had heard her come in, and were slightly startled by her sudden presence. "Sorry for intruding. This is Doctor Morris, one of our resident neurologists. She'll be carrying out the tests, Daniel."

Doctor Francesca Morris was several years older than Doctor Gant; short and plump, she looked to be in her late forties, with short, wavy, auburn hair that was on the verge of turning grey. She held herself in a way that suggested she wouldn't take any nonsense from anyone, but behind black-framed glasses were kindly brown eyes, cornered with laughter lines, that warmed Danny towards her immediately.

"Hello, Daniel," she greeted him with a smile. "You can stick with Doctor Morris if you want, but I prefer for my patients to call me Fran, or Frankie. I can't be doing with stuffy hospital formalities, especially when I'm electrocuting my patients." She winked to reassure him that she was joking.

Danny returned the smile; Fran's bubbly personality helped to disperse some of his worry. "Pleasure to meet you, Doc. And please, call me Danny."

"How are you feeling today, Daniel?" Dr Gant asked, moving around to the other side of his bed. "Are you in any pain?"

"A little," Danny admitted. "It's not that bad, though."

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad is the pain?"

"About a 3," Danny guessed.

Doctor Gant nodded whilst making notes in his chart. "Okay. I'll get you a mild painkiller. Fran, do you want to get started?"

"Sure," the neurologist agreed. "Commander McGarrett, would you mind stepping outside while I'm doing the tests?"

"I'm not leaving," Steve retorted instantly, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm staying with Danny."

"Steve, I'll be fine," Danny insisted. "Go get a cup of coffee, or breakfast, or better yet, a shower, because frankly, you kind of look like shit."

Steve suddenly became aware of the fact that he hadn't showered in over 24 hours, nor shaved, and was sporting the beginnings of a beard. He was still dressed in yesterday's clothes; his shirt was smeared and crusty in places with Danny's dried blood. He nodded in defeat. "Fine. Chin will be back later; the DA wants all the reports for the case finished today. I'll be back later."

Even though he had urged Steve to go, Danny almost wished that the man had refused completely to leave, because then he wouldn't be facing the procedures on his own. "Good. I'll see you later."

The SEAL must have seen something show on his face, as, before he left, he whispered, "It'll be fine." Danny simply nodded, watching his partner walk out of the room.

* * *

Chin scribbled his signature on the last report and threw it into his outbox, sighing in relief as the case was now officially finished. He could take the files over to the DA's office, Alex Joseph would go to court and receive 25 to life for the murders he committed, along with attempting to kill Danny. Justice would be served.

As he started to gather up the necessary files, movement through the glass walls caught Chin's eye. Glancing up, he saw Miriam approaching his office. "Can I help you with something, Miriam?"

Miriam hovered nervously by the door, playing with the hem of her shirt. Her mouth opened and shut a few times, but no words came out. Eventually, she murmured, "They told me you arrested my brother."

"We did," Chin confirmed. "He'll go to court at some point in the next week and receive his sentence." Joseph's sister only nodded, lowering her gaze. "I know that he's the only family you have left, Miriam, but your brother killed people and he has to face the consequences of it. Don't you think his victims deserve justice?"

"I do, but… How can I face their families in court knowing that I helped to…?" Miriam paused and swallowed heavily, before forcing herself to continue, "Knowing that I helped to kill those poor people?"

"They don't know that you were involved, Miriam," Chin told her. "And you'll find a way; you're a strong woman."

A bashful smile flitted across the young woman's face, before fading again. "How's Detective Williams? Is he okay?"

"He will be," Chin answered briefly.

Miriam nodded, retreating into herself again. Chin continued to gather up his files as she blurted out, "I'm sorry! I never wanted this to happen."

Chin snapped his gaze back up to stare at her. "What do you mean, Miriam? Never wanted what to happen?"

"I-I should have gone to the police as soon as Ali told me what he planned to do," Miriam explained in a rush. "But I was too afraid; he… he…"

"What? What did Alex do?"

"He threatened to kill me," she finished eventually, and rolled up her right sleeve. "I didn't want to help him. He said that if I didn't help him, I would go to Hell. He showed me what it would be like." Miriam held her arm out in front of her, showing Chin a particularly vicious burn that extended from her elbow to the middle of her forearm.

"Oh, my God, Miriam," Chin breathed, disgusted by Joseph's actions. The burn couldn't have been more than a month healed, judging by the ragged appearance of the skin over the wound.

"I should have gone to the police anyway," Miriam continued, tugging her sleeve back down. "Maybe if I had been brave…"

"You are brave," Chin countered. "I know you had a hard childhood, with the abuse from your father and your mother's aneurysm. And now helping us prevent your brother from hurting anyone else? In my book, Miriam, you're one of the bravest people I've ever met."

Chin wasn't sure what he had expected from Miriam – disagreement? Denial, perhaps – but not anger. "My mother did not die from a brain aneurysm, Detective," she snapped. "She killed herself!"

**Well, I hope that was good for you all. I _love _Steve and Danny having a heart-to-heart bromance moment; after Grace and Danny, they are my favourite part of the show. I hope everyone else agrees, too. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated x**


	22. Chapter 22

**Holy shit, I suck! I'm so so so sooooo sorry for the long delay! I know I said I'd update over the summer, but as soon as I made that promise, my muse gave me the middle fingered salute and f**ked off! I didn't mean to keep you all waiting! Thank you everyone for the reviews for the last chapter; in return, I am giving you all an extra-long chapter. This was almost 3,000 words when I'd finished it! But it was worth it, and I hope you all enjoy it! x**

"Right, let's get started, shall we?" Dr Morris asked, clapping her hands together.

Taking a quick, deep breath, Danny nodded. "Sure. Let's do this."

His worry must have shown on his face, as Fran gently squeezed his forearm, a reassuring expression on her face. "Don't worry, Danny; it'll be over before you know it," she calmed him. "Remember what your friend said? It'll be fine. Just take a few deep breaths and relax."

Danny nodded and did as the neurologist instructed, inhaling deeply through his nose and expelling the breath through his mouth. "Okay. I'm good now."

Francesca beamed warmly at him as she started up the monitors. "You chased your friend out of here quite eagerly, by the way. Most of my patients like to have someone in the room with them while I'm doing these tests, and he was more than enthusiastic to stay."

"Well, Steve's been here since last night, and I know for a fact that those things you people call cots are uncomfortable as fuck, not to mention that he hasn't showered in over 24 hours now, probably. The man has a tendency to forget about his own needs when one of us is hurt, so we have to remind him every now and again."

Dr Morris pressed electrodes firmly to Danny's arm, above the deep slash. "Well, he's worried about you. You can't really fault him for being loyal to his friends."

"True, but he shouldn't have to fuss over me so much," Danny objected, watching as the doctor plugged the wires into a piece of equipment that resembled the voltmeters in his high school physics classroom.

Fran raised an eyebrow at him, a tiny, knowing smirk playing on her lips. "You know, it's okay to let go of control every now and again, and be fussed over," she remarked, enjoying the surprised expression that appeared on Danny's face. "Nothing gets past us, honey."

Danny sighed, running his hand down his face. "Yeah, okay, you're right. It's just that I'm not used to being cared for, really. I've always been the one who cares for others, y'know? I'm the oldest brother, I was a husband, I'm a father, I'm a cop… It's always been my job to take care of others, not the other way around."

"I understand; it's hard for anyone to relinquish control in any situation," the doctor agreed. She'd been given the detective's medical file earlier, and knew the circumstances of his admittance. "But you are now back in control. You survived, you won and you can move on from this."

"But not everyone can," Danny murmured, glancing away from Fran.

Fran's expression grew serious and she gripped Danny's wrist firmly, forcing him to look at her again. "Now none of that," she told him, jabbing a finger at him. "Don't go acting as if you did nothing. You may not have saved everyone, but you stopped the guy. All those families now have closure, because of what you and your team did. You did everything you could. So don't sell yourself short, Danny."

"Well, it's still hard when someone dies while you know that you could have done something to stop it," he sighed. "You, as a doctor, you should understand that."

"I do understand that. But you develop techniques to cope with it," she responded. "As cliché as it sounds, I've found the best method to be talking. Talk to your partner; I'd bet my month's salary that he's feeling the same way."

Danny snorted lightly. "Steve doesn't really talk about emotions; none of the McGarrett men do," he explained.

"He's your friend. I'm sure he'll listen to you," Fran smiled. She turned briefly back to the equipment and checked that everything was prepped and working. "Okay, that's enough maudlin talk. Let's get cracking. What I'm going to do, Danny, is called a nerve conduction velocity test."

"Gesundheit," Danny quipped. "What's that when it's at home?"

"It measures the rate at which an electrical impulse travels along a nerve," Fran explained. "I'll stimulate the nerve above the injury, and record the impulse again in your forearm, and compare that time to a set of reference values. If the recorded value is slower than the references, we'll know that there's nerve damage. That's all there is to it."

"All right, then. Stick me with your cattle prod and let's do this."

Fran chuckled as she pulled Steve's abandoned chair up and sank into it. "It's not that bad, Danny. It'll feel like a mild electric shock, that's it. You ready?"

Danny nodded once. "Yeah. Let's get it over with."

Francesca nodded and turned to her equipment. "Ready for the first impulse? Coming in three, two, one…" A sharp shock ran down Danny's arm and he flinched, a hiss escaping through his teeth, more from surprise than pain. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just wasn't expecting it to be quite so sudden. Let's keep going."

Fran nodded and continued the test, sending three more impulses through Danny's nerves. He managed to control his reactions for the last ones, knowing what they would be like, and in no more than five minutes, they were finished. Each impulse was recorded on the monitor as a little blip, which Fran studied intensely once she was finished. Danny waited silently for her to speak. He suspected – hoped, more like – that it would be good news, since the neurologist hadn't made any comments during the test that might indicate worrying results.

Eventually, Dr Morris turned away from the monitor and returned her focus to Danny. "So, what's the verdict, Doc?" Danny asked.

A broad smile spread across her face. "You've escaped any nerve damage, Danny; your impulse values were completely normal. You're very lucky."

Danny's own smile matched Dr Morris's. "Oh, thank God!" he exclaimed. "So, am I just going to need a course of physiotherapy or something?"

"Most likely, but that's for Dr Gant to decide, since she's actually your doctor," Fran confirmed. "It was lovely meeting you, Danny, but – and please don't take this the wrong way – I hope I never see you again."

"Likewise, Fran," he agreed. "At least, in this capacity."

"Yes, definitely," Francesca chuckled as she disengaged her equipment and packed it back onto the trolley. "I'll see if I can come see you again before you're discharged. Get some rest."

Danny settled down in the bed, relief flowing through him. The results were better than he could have asked for. "See ya, Doc," he called after her retreating form. He let his head fall back down on the pillow, running his left hand over his hair, as a relieved chuckle escaped his lips. There was no lasting damage, he would be out of here within a week at the most and he could carry on as a detective, just as Steve said he would.

Steve, who badgered him to change his outlook on life, to not always jump to the worst possible conclusion, and to not assume anything until he knew the test results. God, the man would be unbearable when Danny told him that there wasn't any nerve damage.

Dr Gant came in again, distracting him from his thoughts. "I've got some Dramamine here for you, Daniel; you said you were still feeling nauseous." She handed him two small, round white pills with a little plastic cup filled with water. "Those should take care of it."

Danny palmed the pills and chased them down with the water. "Thanks, Doc."

"So Francesca tells me you were dealt a lucky hand," she told him with a smile

Danny nodded. "Yeah, Dr Morris said that there isn't any nerve damage. Just muscle damage."

"We'll sort out a physical therapy routine tomorrow or the day after, because you still have some muscle damage," Dr Gant continued. "But all in all, you're a lucky man. I'm sure Commander McGarrett will be pleased to know, as well. Where is he, by the way?"

"I kicked him out; he was starting to stink up the place," Danny chuckled. "Chin will be here in a little while; the DA is demanding write-ups of the case already. The law waits for no man."

"Well, it can wait for you," Dr Gant countered. "Try and get some rest; Dramamine can make you drowsy."

Danny nodded and settled down further against the pillow, closing his eyes, relief allowing him to drop off easily.

* * *

Steve came down the stairs an hour after Danny sent him away, dressed in fresh clothes and feeling more human than he had for the last couple of days. A shower, shave and a toothbrush worked wonders. Once he'd arrived home, Steve got a good look at himself in the mirror; two days' worth of stubble covered his face, while large, dark circles beneath his eyes combined to create an appearance of a half-dead vagrant. It was no wonder that Danny had kicked him out; he really did look like shit.

As he pulled down a box of oatmeal from the cupboard, his phone chirped in his pocket. Chin's name flashed across the caller ID. "Chin, you finished with the reports now?" Steve completely forewent any semblance of a greeting.

"_Kind of," _came the reply. _"Miriam showed up at HQ and… I need to tell you guys something. I'd rather tell you all together than repeat it three times."_

"Okay, I'm coming back to the hospital. Have you buzzed Kono yet or shall I?"

"_Not yet; I only just got here myself," _Chin said. _"But don't worry; I'll text her. She said she and Grace were going out for breakfast, so they're probably closer than you."_

"Okay. I'm leaving now. I'll be there in, maybe, fifteen minutes. See you, Chin."

"_See you."_

As Steve slipped his phone back into his pocket, his mind started racing with possibilities of what it was that Chin had to tell them. Had something happened to Miriam? Had her brother perhaps threatened her? Was she in any danger, as unlikely as it seemed? It was as Steve was turning the key in the Silverado's ignition that he suddenly realised that he hadn't asked Chin if Danny's tests were finished, or if he knew the results yet. Steve mentally smacked himself for that slip up. He just decided that he would find out once he arrived at the hospital.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Steve was striding through the Intermediate Care Unit towards Danny's room. He passed a couple of nurses he recognised from various other times that one of them had been admitted to the hospital before, offering them quick nods in lieu of any greeting, and pushed the door to Danny's room open.

Kono and Grace were already there, the latter sitting cross-legged on the bed on her dad's good side, while the cousins sat on either side of the bed in the chairs provided by the nurses. Steve moved to the foot of the bed, gripping the bedrail with both hands.

"I guess I'm late to the party," he joked. "You okay, Gracie Bean?"

The dark-haired girl nodded, chocolate-brown eyes staring up at her pseudo-uncle. "Are you okay, Uncle Steve? Danno said he had to send you away this morning."

"I'm okay, sweetie; nothing a shower couldn't fix," he reassured her.

"And a proper bed and a good night's sleep," Danny added from the bed. Steve simply glared at his partner; any response he could have come up with would have been inappropriate considering the present company.

"Uncle Steve, you have to take care of yourself as well as Danno!" Grace exclaimed. "Promise me you won't do that anymore!"

"Grace, I–"

"Promise me!" Grace insisted, turning on the patented Williams glare.

"Okay, Grace; I promise." The others swallowed down chuckles as their fearless SEAL leader succumbed to a twelve-year-old's glare. "Oh, shut it."

"Don't you worry, Grace; we'll make sure Uncle Steve takes care of himself," Kono grinned.

Steve directed his glare at her, before turning his attention back to Danny. "So how did the tests go? Have you got the results back yet?"

"The test was fine; Fran did it all very quickly," Danny replied, his face expressionless and not revealing anything.

"And…?" the SEAL prompted. "Results?"

A large grin spread across the blond detective's face. "No nerve damage. So no complicated treatment plan; only a course of physical therapy once the stitches come out." He raised his right hand to gently high five Grace.

Steve's grin matched Danny's. "That's great! That's really great, man! Do you have any idea when that might be?"

"Doctor Gant said it might be another week, when I ran into her," Chin helpfully supplied from his chair. He met Steve's eyes and subtly shifted his gaze towards the door and back, signalling that they should talk outside.

Steve understood immediately. "Well, that is terrific news, Danno. We can still have that celebratory barbecue."

"Sounds good," Danny agreed. "We can finally put this case to rest."

The group lapsed into silence for a beat before Chin pushed himself to his feet. "Do you know what I need? Some coffee. Real coffee. You coming, Kono?"

Taking the hint, Kono rose from her chair as well. "Sure. I could kill for a caramel latte right about now."

"I'll come with you guys; I haven't actually had any breakfast yet today and I'm starving," Steve added, straightening up and following the cousins to the door. "Do you want us to bring you back anything? Have you eaten anything today, Danny?"

"Not yet, I haven't really been feeling great," Danny revealed. "I'll just go for something light. And some juice. Not pineapple, though. You bring back anything pineapple, and it goes in your face."

Steve smirked at his partner's usual threats about the tropical fruit; he would never understand the man's aversion to it. "Got it. No pineapple juice. Do you want anything, Gracie?"

"I'm all right for now, Uncle Steve," Grace stated from the bed.

"All right. We'll see you in a bit." The trio left the room and moved through the ward towards the lifts. "So what did you need to tell us, Chin?" Steve asked once they were out of earshot.

Chin took a deep breath before he spoke. "So Miriam came by HQ when I was finishing up the reports; she'd been told that we'd taken Alex into custody. Mostly she was worried about how she's going to be able to testify in court and see the victims' families whilst knowing that she played a part in their deaths," he began explaining.

"But she was bullied into it," Kono objected. "It's murder under duress."

"It's more than that; in a pinch, I'd push for attempted murder." As he spoke, Chin took his phone from his pocket and pulled up a picture of the burn on Miriam's arm. "Alex threatened to kill his sister if she didn't take part in the murders, saying that she'd spend an eternity in Hell."

"Holy shit," Steve breathed as he stared at the nasty burn on the young woman's arm. "We could swing for ABH, but I don't think the DA would accept attempted murder. But this'll help make the case against Joseph, with Miriam's testimony."

"That's not everything I needed to tell you," Chin interjected slowly.

Steve's gut churned unpleasantly with the fleeting thought that their case against Joseph was now hanging on a seesaw on a window ledge. "What is it?"

"Kono, when you were looking into Joseph's background, you said that the mother died of a brain aneurysm. It wasn't that; she killed herself," the older Hawaiian said bluntly. "According to Miriam, her mother was on medication for low blood pressure. She overdosed on her pills, which caused a bleed in the brain. Somehow, their father pulled some strings at the hospital morgue and got the coroner to write her death off as an aneurysm."

"Why would he do that?" Kono asked, puzzled.

"In Christianity, suicide is considered to be a sin; it's still a form of murder," Steve explained to the younger woman. "And the Bible states that anyone who commits suicide fails God. I guess their father didn't want the humiliation of people knowing his wife killed herself."

"Yeah, and at some point, Alex must have really started to believe it," Chin added. "It could almost be classed as Stockholm's Syndrome, which has got me slightly worried now. I'll have to redo the case write-up and I'll have to mention this. Joseph's lawyer will see it and, most likely, is going to try the abuse defence and insanity plea." Although these defences weren't always successful, the statistics were high enough to cause concern.

Steve shook his head and jabbed the button for the lift. "I doubt it'll swing things in his favour; not with the brutality of his murders," he asserted. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chin and Kono exchange a worried glance, still feeling doubtful, but he ignored them. There was no way that Alex Joseph was going to escape justice, not after what he had almost taken from them.

**I hope that was worth waiting for. Again, I am _so sorry _for the ridiculously long wait. There will only be a couple more chapters now, and then it's finished! Unbelievably, this has taken longer to write than Remaking Lives, and that's more than twice as long! Sixth Form does not leave much time for writing...**

**As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. I will avoid making any comments as to when I think I'll post the next chapter, as I've noticed a pattern; if I say the next chapter will be soon, it'll take ages, and if I say that it'll take a long time, I'll do it quickly. So, no more time comments. Until next time! x**


	23. Chapter 23

**Wow, that was a great response for the last chapter! Thank you to everyone who left reviews. It has now been exactly one year since I first started this; I can't believe how many faves, follows and support it's gotten. Thank you to everyone who's stuck it through to the end and put up with my ranting and random updates.  
****I'm so glad you all loved the last chapter. Obviously, I wasn't going to leave Danny with any permanent damage to his arm, but I needed some angst in there, and that worked perfectly. And now it is time for the maudlin, mush-filled chapter. I will warn you all now that you will probably have to go see your dentists after reading this; it's like reading full-fat Coke, or whatever sweet treat you prefer. So I hope you enjoy x**

Grace watched as Steve, Chin and Kono left the room, the door clicking shut behind them, and despite the little voice in the back of her mind telling her that she was being irrational, she felt irritation bubble up inside her. Although they had used coffee as an excuse to leave, she knew that they were talking about the man who had hurt her father. She wasn't stupid; she had seen Chin's hints that they should leave, not to mention the fact that Danno hadn't asked anything about it at all. She knew her dad liked to see things through the end, and it instantly caught her attention when he didn't say anything. She understood that they wouldn't want to discuss it in front of her, but it was somewhat patronising.

"Are you okay, Monkey?" Danny's voice pulled her from her reverie and back to the present.

Rather than giving an answer, Grace reached out and lightly traced the shape of the bruises on her dad's face with the tip of her finger. "Are _you _okay, Danno?" she shot back quietly.

Danny hesitated for barely a moment. "I'll live," he said finally. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Then I'm okay, as well," Grace nodded.

Danny's lips quirked up into a smile. His daughter was a stalwart young lady; a true Williams through-and-through. "I'm so sorry, Grace. I know you were scared."

The bubble of irritation in her chest burst, leaving her feeling uneasy and anxious; something she had never felt with her dad. Grace didn't want to be having this conversation. He was right; she had been scared. In fact, she'd been absolutely, downright terrified, but not just of the possibility of Danny dying, but also of how she would ever be forgiven by him. She still felt awful about being so insolent the day before and she still firmly believed that it was her fault that he was taken in the first.

"I was. I was really scared." Grace felt the familiar burn of tears in her eyes and her bottom lip began to tremble. "I was so afraid I was going to lose you, Danno. Auntie Kono came and picked me up from Becky's house, a-and she wouldn't… wouldn't tell me what was happening. And then she left too and I didn't know what was going on."

Danny could feel his heart shattering as his baby girl told him how terrified she had been, not knowing if he was still alive or not, and thought, not for the first time, that her life would be so much easier if he wasn't a cop. "God, I'm so sorry, Grace. I'm so sorry. I never want this to happen; I never want you to feel scared like that."

"I know, Danno; you've always protected me. And I'm sorry, too. I was so mean yesterday, when I yelled at you. I shouldn't have done that." The tears came heavier and messier as Grace poured her guilt out. "It's my fault that you got taken, Daddy; y-you were mad at me and-and you weren't concentrating, so the… the b-bad man got you!"

Danny's own tears blurred his vision as he pulled Grace into a hug, resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping his arm around her in a protective embrace. "No, Grace, no; don't you think for one second that you are to blame. The man who hurt me was smart and cunning. You are not responsible in any way."

"But I-I still sh-shouldn't have shouted at you," Grace sniffled. "I'm so sorry, Danno."

"Ssh, ssh, sweetie, it's fine," Danny whispered, gently stroking her hair. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for."

Neither one of them moved for several minutes, seeking comfort from the other. Once he was certain that he'd be able to speak without crying, Danny broke the silence. "What a pair we are, huh?"

Grace gave a watery chuckle and sniffed again, wiping away the tears from her eyes, although her cheeks were still stained with tracks. "I am sorry, though, Danno. I just got frustrated yesterday; Darcy came over to Becky's house as well, and she texted me before you got back, asking where I was. I told her I was still waiting for you. She said that she was getting there by herself, on the bus, and it just… Darcy already seems so grown up."

Danny sighed internally as Grace told him the reason for her outburst the day before; Grace was younger than a lot of people in her grade. Being a summer babe himself, he could understand the feeling that everyone else was so grown up while you were still waiting for your birthday. "I'm sorry, baby; I know I still treat you like you're still ten, but it's because I love you so very much. I've seen a lot of things, Grace, that horrify me, and I just want to protect you from that. I know you're going to be thirteen in a couple of months, and do you know what? That terrifies me. You're growing up, Grace, and I won't be able to protect you forever. I just want to keep you safe while I can, though."

Grace nodded and lay back down against her father's chest. "Right now, I don't want to grow up. I just want us to be Monkey and Danno."

Danny wished it could always be that way. "So do I, Monkey. So do I."

* * *

"This is looking very good, Daniel," Doctor Gant stated four days later, as she gently probed the stitched wound with gloved fingers. "These can probably come out tomorrow."

"Great. And then I can get out of here?" Danny added hopefully.

"Hold your horses, mister; we're not quite there yet," the doctor chuckled as she finished her exam. "We still need to arrange some PT for you. It'll be at least another three days before you'll be released."

Danny suppressed a groan and let his head fall back against the pillows. "I hate hospitals. I just want to get out of here. No offence, Doc."

"None taken, Daniel; we want you to get out of here, as well. But just be patient; you'll be out of here before you know it." She peeled off her gloves and threw them in the bin, turning to leave, but paused. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the IV bag containing Danny's pain medication, still as full as when it had been changed nearly six hours ago. "You know, this is here for a reason."

Danny glanced at the full IV bag. "I don't like them. They make me feel fuzzy, and I… I can't wake up."

Doctor Gant's expression softened. "Are you still having nightmares?" Danny's lack of a response told her what she needed to know. "I'll change your medication, and make a note in your file as well that you should talk to someone."

"I don't need a psychiatrist," he automatically contradicted her. "They're just nightmares; nothing I can't handle, nor haven't handled before."

"Daniel, you've been through an ordeal," his doctor countered. "I think it would be a good idea for you to see someone."

"And I think it'd be unnecessary and a waste of time. Some other poor sod needs a therapist more than I do," Danny retorted, becoming more agitated.

"Daniel…"

"Dammit, I don't need a goddamn shrink!" Danny shouted, finally snapping. "I've never needed one before, and I don't need now!"

"What the hell is going on?" a new voice boomed from the doorway. Danny and Doctor Gant both started, unaware than anyone had joined them. Steve stood by the door, anger and bewilderment both obvious on his face. "What are you shouting about?"

Doctor Gant ignored him, turning back to Danny. "You need to speak to someone. Whether it's a professional or your partner, I really don't give a damn. _Talk to someone_." Without another word, she turned and stormed from the room.

Danny wouldn't look at Steve as he crossed the room, refusing to be the one to start the conversation. Steve, meanwhile, sank into the chair wordlessly, staring at his partner for several long moments. "Well?" he asked eventually.

"Well what?" Danny growled back.

"What was that?"

"That was nothing; leave it."

"No, no, I am not leaving it," Steve protested, shaking his head vehemently. "What the hell happened? What was that about a shrink?"

"Doctor Gant seems to think that I need to see a professional," Danny revealed.

"And do you?"

"No, I don't need a fucking shrink!" the detective snapped, glaring angrily at his partner.

"So you're completely fine, then?" Steve pressed, clasping his hands together in his lap.

"Yes!"

"Bullshit." Steve narrowed his eyes at the man lying in the bed.

Danny's glare intensified. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. _Bullshit! _As in 'I don't believe you'," the SEAL continued. "You're not fine, Danny; you're nowhere near fine. And do you know what? Neither am I." Danny's brow furrowed slightly in confusion at Steve's admission. "I'm not okay. I've been having nightmares every night for the last week, and every time, we don't save you in time; you die right as we get there. And as much as you like to say otherwise, I'm only human, Danny, and this has affected me as much as it's affected you. And that's okay. It's okay to be human."

Danny fiddled with a loose thread on the blanket, refusing to meet Steve's gaze. When he eventually began to speak, his voice was so soft that Steve had to strain to hear it. "I've been having nightmares every night; every single time, it's you, or Chin or Kono… or even my daughter who Joseph kills. And I'm helpless to stop him. And… And then Reyes appears as well, and they both remind me that… that I'm no better than either of them."

"Yes, you are, Danny!" Steve interrupted him without thinking. "You are so much better than both of them put together!"

"No, I'm not, Steve! Don't you see? How am I better than him? How am I better than any of the criminals we've arrested over the years? For fuck's sake, I _killed _a man! In cold blood! How does that make me a better man?"

"Am I a better man than Joseph or Reyes?" Steve asked suddenly.

"Of course you are," Danny affirmed without hesitation.

"And yet I've killed more people than them. The difference between us and them is that we killed to protect; they killed for money and psychotic obsessions. Don't ever compare yourself to them, Danny."

"It's not just that, though, Steve," Danny protested. "Why did I survive while they died?" Survivor's guilt. Steve's face fell as everything fell in place. Danny couldn't cope with the fact that he had lived while others had died. "I know none of them were saints, but dammit, they didn't deserve to die like that. Or even at all! Laura was repairing her relationship with her sister; Stefan had a girlfriend who stood by him, as did Richard's wife. Why did they die while I lived?"

Steve simply shook his head. "I can't tell you why, Danny; it just is. I'll tell you this, though. I'm glad that it was you who survived. That may make me sound awful, but it's true. You are my best friend and my brother, and I would be lost without you. We all would be."

Danny would deny it until the day he died, but tears burned in his eyes at Steve's words. "Love you too, you great big sop," he murmured.

"I always knew you did, brah," Steve snickered, before growing serious. "I'm glad that you told me you've been struggling, Danny. You know that you can talk to me anytime, right?"

"I know, Steve. And… thank you."

"Any time," his partner smiled.

**Relationships have been repaired and Danny's opened up to Steve... Now we've just got Joseph to deal with. That will be in the next chapter and then... we're finished. Oh my God, it's so close! As always, reviews are greatly appreciated (and notice how quickly I updated this time because I didn't mention time at all?). Until next time! x**


	24. Chapter 24

**Well. Here we are... the final chapter. It's taken over a year to write this, and a lot of 'final' drafts, frustration and stress, but it's now complete. Again, a great big "THANK YOU!" to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed this story, and for putting up with my random updates and my lies about time-keeping. Thank you!  
****So this chapter deals with our final loose end: Joseph's sentence. I tried to make this sound as authentic as possible - my best friend's parents are both judges, so I thought she'd be a good judge of what I wrote (no pun intended!) and she said it's all right. So I hope this ending is satisfactory for you all. Enjoy x**

Miriam sat hunched over on one of the many benches in the corridor of the courthouse, trying and failing to hold herself together. Her brother's trial had been going on for close to a week now; it had been in the news every day for the last fortnight, praising the Governor's taskforce for catching the killer who had terrorised Honolulu for over a month. Miriam had been mentioned a few times as well, sometimes as an accomplice but other times, as a witness.

The trial itself had mostly concluded; all that was left was the sentencing. Miriam had only been here once during the entire proceedings to give her testimony, unable to look the victims' families in the eye, knowing she had played a part in their deaths, but she had felt that she owed it to them to be present for her brother's sentencing.

A multitude of emotions was running through her, jumbling together; she couldn't sort through them and figure out what she was really feeling. At the forefront was anger for his actions and motivations – how he had used teachings that had been so important to them while growing up as a justification to kill innocent people – but beneath that, there was the guilt of her own involvement along with grief that she had now lost her entire family, not to mention the confusion and overwhelming sensation of the swarm of feelings.

Someone sat down next to Miriam, startling her. Her head snapped up to see Detective Williams next to her. "Detective Williams, are you all right? I thought you were still in the hospital. How are you?" she asked, quickly wiping away all traces of her tears.

"No, I was released a couple of days ago. I'm near enough recovered now; I just have to wear this thing for a week to avoid pulling at the stitches," he answered, gesturing to the blue foam sling securing his arm to his body. "But I should really be asking you that. How are _you _doing?"

Miriam nibbled on her lip, shaking her head back and forth. "Would you believe me if I said "yes"?" she asked with a wry smile.

"Perhaps," Danny shrugged. "If you gave me a reason to believe it."

"And how would I do that?"

"Have you spoken to the families of your brother's victims?"

"No, and I can't. Why would they ever want to talk to the person who killed someone they loved?"

"You killed them?" Danny's brow furrowed as he frowned. "I was under the impression that it was Alex who killed them. Last I checked, you were an _unwilling _accomplice."

Miriam scoffed. "Phrase it however you want; I still helped to kill those people, and I know that they they'd never want to see me."

"How can you be so certain if you haven't spoken to them?"

"Would you?" she shot back. "Would you want to speak to someone that you knew had played a part in the murder of someone you loved?"

"I know I wouldn't hold them accountable for something they had no choice in."

Miriam sighed heavily and scrubbed at her face. "Detective, look, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but please… Just stop. I killed those people, I didn't kill those people – phrase it however you want. The fact of the matter is I did nothing to stop my brother, and for that, I am as guilty as he is. My sins are as bad as his."

Danny seemed to realise that he was fighting a losing battle; the young woman was so convinced that she was a despicable person that nothing would change her mind. With a nod, he pushed himself to his feet. He'd moved only a few steps from the bench when he stopped and turned around. "Think about what I said, Miriam," he urged her. "You are a strong woman, and I don't want to see you get beaten by this." Without another word, he continued walking down the corridor, disappearing around a corner.

Miriam dropped her gaze to the floor again. Williams was just wasting his breath; as far as she was concerned, she held as much responsibility as Alex did, no matter what anyone else told her. She would be forced to remember that for the rest of her life as penance, but she doubted she'd ever be absolved of her guilt.

* * *

A few minutes later, Miriam found herself sitting at the back of the courtroom, waiting for the judge to issue Alex Joseph's sentence. People filed in past her, not sparing the woman a glance; either because they didn't realise that she was there, or because they couldn't bear to look at her. Either way, Miriam didn't care.

Alex was seated down the front of the courtroom, hands cuffed in front of him and shackled to a belt, dressed in a garish orange prison jumpsuit, conversing quietly with his lawyer, sat next to him. He paused mid-sentence to twist around in his seat, eyes skimming over the assembled crowd. Miriam presumed that he was searching for her.

The lawyer placed a hand on his shoulder and forced him to turn around again, just as the door to the judge's chambers opened. Judge Flora Bernier had presided over Alex's trial, and now his outcome rested on her judgement.

The courtroom fell into silence as Judge Bernier looked through her notes, gathering her thoughts. After several moments, she addressed the young man in front of her. "Alexander Joseph, please rise." Silently, the killer rose, staring back at the judge. "Mr Joseph, you have been convicted by overwhelming evidence of the murders of three innocent individuals, the attempted murders of a minor and a police officer, and causing actual bodily harm to your sister. Your methods were barbaric and merciless, and you fail to show any remorse for your actions. Furthermore, not only have you tried to justify your actions through a plea of insanity and abuse defence, referring to the mistreatment that you and your sister suffered at the hands of your father as children, but you have also used religion as a motivation. You have caused deep emotional pain to the families of your victims. Your first victim, Laura Henderson, was in the process of repairing her relationship with her sister; you have now robbed them of that possibility." Judge Bernier paused and glanced down at her papers. "From hearing the evidence provided, my conclusion is that you are incapable of showing any form of emotion for your actions and were entirely cognizant of what you were doing, and do not require mental aid of any sort. You have therefore shown yourself to be too dangerous to be considered for release. The sentence I pass is life imprisonment with no eligibility of parole." Miriam flinched as the harsh bang of the gavel echoed around the courtroom, finalising Alex's sentence.

She resolutely kept her gaze forward as her brother was escorted from the room by two HPD officers. As he passed her, Miriam heard his voice almost inaudibly.

"_We did it, Miry," _he hissed, using her nickname from when they were children. _"We did the Lord's work."_

The young woman struggled not to react; her nails bit painfully into her palms as she curled her hands into fists as she trembled. Tears burned once more in her eyes, but she willed them not to fall. The officers gave him a shake and growled at him to keep his mouth shut, and dragged him from the courtroom.

As everyone else made their way out of the room, Miriam remained in her seat. A thought crossed her mind that she should move, but it didn't really register. All that she could focus on at the moment was that her entire family was now gone; she was entirely alone. Her brain kept circling around that fact. For several minutes, Miriam sat on the bench, staring into nothing, unable to think about anything else.

"Miss Joseph?" Miriam jerked her head in surprise, not realising that anyone was there. A woman in her mid-thirties, medium-length dark auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail, stood by the end of the bench, uncertainty written across her face. Miriam was so wrapped up in her thoughts that it took her a moment to realise who this was. "I'm Charlotte Henderson."

Miriam shot to her feet and would have fled if Charlotte weren't blocking her exit. "Miss Henderson, I-I-I… I-I should… You… We… You… I need to go," she stammered frantically and tried to brush past Charlotte, but found her way blocked.

"No, please. I want to talk to you."

"Why?" Miriam was confused – beyond confused, in fact. "I helped kill your sister and you want to talk to me. Why?"

Charlotte opened her mouth to answer, but no words came. "I don't know, really," she admitted after a moment. "I just… I just had to. I don't believe you're a killer, Miss Joseph; I don't _see _a killer in you. I just can't believe that you would ever think to do something like this to anyone."

"I used to think the same about my brother," Miriam whispered. "Miss Henderson, I'm so sorry for what I've done, but if there's no particular reason that you want to talk to me, I'd really just like to get out of here and hopefully drown in my bath tonight."

A chuckled escaped the other woman's lips, but there was no mirth in it. "Okay. I saw Detective Williams outside before this session started, and he made a suggestion that I should speak to you; he said that you're struggling. Well, I told him that I'm struggling, too – my sister is dead, after all – but I started to think, if I'm barely coping with it, how are you coping with knowing that you played a part in it?"

Anger started to simmer in Miriam's chest, as irrational and unreasonable as she knew it was, but she couldn't help it. "I don't want to have this conversation. So please, let me through and–"

"No, I'm sorry! Please, let me finish," Charlotte begged. Miriam hesitated for a few moments, but eventually nodded. "I just need you to know that I don't blame you at all. From your testimony and what Detective Williams told me, you were forced into it, and I can only imagine how awful that must have been. I may have lost my sister, but you… you lost much more. So really, I should be saying sorry to you."

Miriam took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "I'll tell you the same thing that I told Detective Williams: I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I played a part in all those peoples' deaths, and I have to remember that for the rest of my life. That is my punishment, and I will have to bear it for the Lord to absolve me of my sin for my part. I am a killer; simple as."

"Not in my mind, you aren't," Charlotte contradicted her gently. Miriam still wasn't convinced, however. "Think about it this way: my sister was one of your brother's victims. If I can forgive you, why can't you forgive yourself?"

"Miss Henderson…"

"I know Laura would forgive you. If you can't forgive yourself for you, do it for Laura." With that final comment, Charlotte turned and exited through the double doors, leaving Miriam alone. Miriam didn't know what to make of that; she had been so certain that none of the victims' families would want to even acknowledge her existence, let alone talk to her, and yet Charlotte was willing to forgive her.

The previous anger disappeared and was replaced with a tiny blossom of faith; perhaps she wasn't being punished. Perhaps that had been God's test for her? Whatever the reason, Miriam left the courthouse with a small smile and a new confidence that she could start over.

"'Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance'," she whispered under her breath. "'And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.'"

**And there you have it. I counted up all the years for each crime that Joseph would be serving; it came to 100-something years, so I just gave him a life sentence. Everyone will agree that he deserves that, right?  
I have various other story plans on the go at the moment; as I said before, I have my RL rewrite going on, but I've also recently become obsessed with Star Trek, and have a couple of story ideas for that. I was planning to take a year off from posting anything, but my best friend, evil person that she is, manipulated me into giving up on that idea. I'm still planning out my stories, so whichever one gets finished first, that will be up next. So, until next time... Ciao! x**


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